Falling Snow
by MahinaFable
Summary: Weiss has been living as a woman for years now, and at Beacon, she could forget that she was transgender. After she is outed in a cruel fashion, Weiss longs for acceptance, and even romance. Could it be that it was right in front of her this whole time? (Transgender Weiss, White Knight) Cover art by DoodleCraftie. Story rated 'M' for violence, language, and sexual situations.
1. The Incident

**Author's Note: This story came about as a combination of Celestia's Paladin's request for a White Knight story and reading NameForsaken's story "The Real Weiss." The gist of that story, if you haven't read it-and you should, it's quite good-is Weiss coming to the realization that he is a transgender man. Here, I'm reversing that concept, to where Weiss has been a transgender woman this entire time, and she needs to deal with others finding out. **

**Not everyone is going to respect Weiss and her gender in this story, which may be difficult to read. It contains themes of gender dysphoria, and one instance of sexual assault, but it won't be all bad things for our favorite Ice Queen.**

**Falling Snow**

**[/]**

It wasn't that she was hiding the truth, really, so much as it was that she wasn't broadcasting everything about her life and gender to all and sundry. Weiss had been living openly as a girl for years now, taking hormones and androgen blocking medication with the support and love of her dear older sister, Winter. All things considered, Weiss was rather pleased with the results, finally comfortable with herself as a petite, slender young woman with gorgeous hair and killer legs. It spoke to the state of her family life that her father hadn't even noticed yet, paying little attention to her beyond checking headlines. Not for the first time, Weiss felt gratitude that her name was gender neutral.

Leaving Atlas and attending Beacon was the most liberating experience of her life. She had had some wild battles against the Grimm, had made true friends almost against her will, had learned to confront the prejudices that she had absorbed from both her family and Atlesian society as a whole, and, most recently, had participated in what was already being hailed as the most spectacular food fight in history.

When people spoke about her, it was in terms of "that crazy-focused girl on Team RWBY," or "that white-haired know-it-all," "the glamorous girl in the white dress," or even, occasionally, "Weiss, that heinous bitch." Okay, so maybe she wasn't winning friends and influencing people with the student body at large, but even that wasn't so bad. At least they were judging her for _who _she was, and not _what_ she was.

She had her partner, Ruby Rose, who had declared that they were, in her estimation, "super besties," and had clung to her like a barnacle. As part of the bargain, Big Sister Yang had come along. After the unpleasantness regarding Blake's past and her own prejudice had been lanced out, the former White Fang and the Schnee heiress had formed a closer relationship, often sharing a quiet rapport at their more boisterous teammates' antics. She got along cordially with most of Team JNPR… but for their leader.

Who had been crushing on her since the day they'd met.

Weiss didn't know how to feel about that.

It wasn't as though Jaune was a _bad_ person, so much as he was a hopelessly ridiculous one. He was easily the worst student in the school, bumbling and fumbling until his partner Pyrrha, in her mercy and grace, had deigned to tutor him in the combat arts. He didn't even have any clue just how much value _that_ held. Pyrrha could command any price as a personal combat instructor, and she opted to volunteer her time and effort attempting to beat him into something resembling a dignified Huntsman.

Weiss couldn't take him seriously, so why should she give his silly, immature attempts at flirting any attention at all? By stark contrast, Neptune, a visiting student from Haven Academy, was everything that Jaune was not. Neptune was charming, sophisticated, a snappy dresser, and respectable. For the first time, Weiss had been infatuated, idly fantasizing about what it would be like to date someone like him.

Someone so cosmopolitan and sophisticated would take the information about her gender in stride, not like how a country bumpkin like Arc would almost certainly freak out about it. Neptune would take her by the hand and sweep her off her feet, and she could be just like any other young girl taken with a handsome young man. That was her daydream, anyway. The reality was considerably worse than that.

She had gone to speak with the blue-haired student at the gardens of Beacon one afternoon. The sun was bright in the sky, and flowers were blooming. With the sculptures and the columns, it made for the perfect romantic backdrop. There, she found Neptune casually leaning against a railing, effortlessly smooth.

"Hey," he called to her.

"Hi, Neptune," Weiss said, nervously brushing her hair back from her face. "So, the school dance is coming up, and I wanted to know… well, would you give me the pleasure of accompanying me to the dance?"

"Hang on," he said. "One of the other students from Mistral suggested something about you, and I want to make sure before I answer."

"Huh? What are you-"

Before she had a chance to respond, Neptune stepped forward and perfunctorily shoved a hand under her skirt. She gasped, her eyes wide as he grasped her genitals, the last part of herself that she'd ever want to be so callously abused. He was rough, and his tight grip on her sent waves of nausea and pain through her body. After a second of shock, she slapped him across the face, hard, and fell back a few steps as he let go.

"You were totally right, it's slinging dong!" Neptune called out over his shoulder, where, to Weiss's horror, a group of other students had watched, some of whom were laughing. Weiss clenched her fists as tears rose unbidden in her eyes. Her first crush, and he had called her an _it_. A thing. She was a figure of mockery, a grotesque, a freak.

Weiss fled.

She turned from the cruel scene and ran as fast as her legs could take her, blowing past other students in the hallways. She ran and ran, tears streaming freely down her face, and she didn't stop until she reached the sanctuary of her team's dorm room. She fell onto her bed with great rasping sobs. How could she have been so stupid? No one was ever going to see her as someone to date, to romance, to love. At best, she would be some strange curiosity, or perhaps a secret, shameful fetish to be quietly, discreetly toyed with and discarded. She was going to be alone for her whole life.

Weiss's misery only deepened when her Scroll buzzed with a notification. She opened up the school's de facto social media network to see that one of the visiting students had posted a picture of her with Neptune's hand under her skirt. "Weiss Schnee is a man!" the caption read. "Neptune confirms it!" Her Scroll fell from trembling fingers, even as it began buzzing wildly with alerts and messages.

She couldn't go home, where she would be met with neglect at best and further abuse at worst. She couldn't show her face around Beacon, couldn't bear seeing the confusion, disgust, or worst of all, the mockery on everyone's faces. Weiss didn't see any way out, so she opted to do the only thing she could; she pulled the covers over her head and just waited for this awful day to end.

[/]

Jaune and Ren looked down the hallway where Weiss Schnee had just torn through at full speed.

"What's up with her?" Jaune asked, to which Ren could only shrug. Suddenly, their Scrolls both lit up, the unmistakable hallmark of something going down. The boys opened up the app to find out what was going on.

Jaune saw the picture.

Jaune saw the caption.

Jaune saw the commentary.

Jaune saw red.

Ren's eyes widened in alarm as his friend strode towards the gardens without saying a word, his fist clenched.

"Jaune, no!"

"Jaune yes!"

Concentrating on his aura, Ren brought his Semblance to bear on his team leader. The red haze drained from Jaune's vision, Ren's talent instilling him with a calm, reasoned perspective, a clear path on what he needed to do next. Ren sighed in relief.

"I'mma go kick his ass," Jaune announced, carrying on as if nothing had happened. Quickly stowing his shock, Ren ran to follow him.

Jaune found Neptune in the garden, chatting up some other girl. Roughly, he dropped his hand on the blue-haired boy's shoulder. "Hey, you!"

Neptune turned around, managing to ask "Yeah?" just before Jaune slugged him in the jaw. He crumpled to the ground, crying in shock and pain as the other students surged towards his attacker.

Ren sighed deeply as stood next to his team leader, hands up in a fighting stance and calmly resigned to the ensuing brawl. He did have interesting friends.

[/]

Yang marched towards the library, her eyes red and her hair practically smoking. She ran into her partner and her fellow Faunus… friend? Stalker? Boytoy? Whatever, the main thing was that he was partnered up with the boy that had just publicly humiliated her friend, and that was not something that Yang Xiao Long was going to tolerate.

"Hey, Sun!" she called out in an obviously-fake friendly tone. "I was hoping you could point me in the direction of some _asshole_ I need to kill!"

"Uh-oh." Well, seems as though Sun isn't as stupid as he looks.

"Yang, he was here with me, don't hurt him," Blake said quickly, moving in front of him.

"I just need to know where Neptune is. I need to pay him a beatdown."

"You'll do no such thing!"

All of the students winced as they heard the unmistakable tone of Professor Goodwitch, who, impossibly, sounded even _more_ out of sorts than usual. "Let it be known that there will be no further instances of violent altercations over this incident. _Is that understood_, Miss Xiao Long?"

Yang showed no signs of backing down. "Is Neptune going to be punished for groping our teammate?"

"Mr. Vasillias is being held at the Headmaster's Office for a disciplinary hearing pertaining to his sexual assault upon Miss Schnee, along with Mr. Arc, who opted to assault him in retaliation."

"Really?" Yang's hair extinguished and her eyes shifted to their normal color. "Huh. Didn't know he had it in him. Go, Vomit Boy."

Goodwitch just sighed. "Mr. Wukong, as Neptune's team leader, your presence at the Headmaster's Office is required." Her gaze softened, slightly, as she regarded the two members of Team RWBY. "Miss Rose is on her way to the dormitory, where Miss Schnee was last seen. Doctor Oobleck also says that his office is open for counseling, should she require it. Go on, girls."

Glynda fought the urge to sigh once more as the two left. This whole day was one long headache. "Follow me," she said, motioning to Sun. It seemed the headache wasn't over yet.

[/]

Weiss didn't stir when she heard the door open.

"Hey, Weiss." Ruby's voice was soft and unusually subdued for the normally energetic young girl. Weiss felt ashamed for anyone to see her in such a state, especially her younger team leader. While Ruby had been a surprisingly competent leader, it was mostly as a result of her ability to empathize with her teammates through her kindness and heart. There was still a lot that she had to learn, and Weiss had tried to demonstrate proper reserve and stoic dignity around her, to at least let her know what it looked like. She hadn't always succeeded, but she'd always tried. And now, Weiss was crumpled up like a used tissue, and she just couldn't stop herself from feeling that way. She couldn't even begin to try.

"We all love you, you know," Ruby said to Weiss's unmoving form. "You didn't deserve what happened to you. I just want you to know that we'll always be sisters in arms."

Weiss looked up at Ruby for the first time. Her eyes were red and bleary from the tears, her hair was frazzled, and her makeup was an atrocity. Ruby's bright silver eyes met with hers. There was no judgement in them, no mockery, just Ruby and her unstoppable Ruby-ness as she held her arms open in invitation. Weiss sat up and let the younger girl pull her into a tight embrace.

Some time later-Weiss couldn't tell how long, exactly-the door opened again as her last two teammates came in. By this time, Weiss had collected herself enough to take a deep, steering breath, let go of Ruby, and offer a brave little smile to her friends.

"Thanks Ruby."

"Ruby hugs make everything better," Yang noted. She and Blake sat across from Weiss's bed, the four girls facing one another.

Weiss took another steadying breath. "So," she began. "I guess everyone knows, huh?"

"About what that total jerk did?" Yang asked. "Yeah… Goodwitch says Ozpin has him in some disciplinary hearing."

"He isn't going to get away with it, Weiss," Blake added. "It was all over, there's no way he can deny what he did."

"Oh great, publicity," Weiss snarked. "Listen… about the… other thing." She looked down at her feet. "I was… assigned male at birth. You know, doctor looks at me as a baby, says 'it's a boy!' and for most people, that would have been the end of it. But… I was never comfortable that way. There was always something wrong. When I was younger, I would sneak around and wear my older sister's old clothes. It just felt right, you know? When she found out, I was sure she was going to laugh at me, or call me names, but instead of all of that, she helped me with my hair. She taught me how to walk in heels, and how to do my eyeliner, all while teaching me how to fight as well."

She wiped away half-dried tears with the heel of her hand. "Ugh, I'm a total mess. Anyway, four years ago, I started taking hormones and T-blockers, and that made me look and feel even better. It just felt natural, and since coming here, I could even forget about it at times. I guess I wasn't as careful as I should have been, since Neptune got suspicious."

"What happened there?" Ruby asked her.

"I went to ask him to the dance. He said something about checking for himself, and then he just up and grabbed my… well, my parts." Weiss averted her gaze, not wanting to see their expressions. "He was pretty rough about it too. I mean, who even does that? What kind of person just walks up to someone and grabs their genitals?"

"It would take a really awful person to do something like that," Blake said, her ears flat.

Ruby nodded her agreement. "I hope Neptune feels ashamed of himself right now."

"Yup, that's, uh, that's a real jerk move right there," Yang said, feeling somewhat nervous, and more than a little guilty. Mentally, she resolved to send Junior a fruit basket or something one of these days. "What did you do?" she asked Weiss, eager to change the subject.

"For a moment, I was just shocked, too surprised to register what just happened. Then I slapped him, I think, and pushed back away from him. By the time I had fully comprehended what just happened… he said some unkind things, confirming what he had felt to other students there. He called me an _it_, and people were laughing, and… and…"

Weiss broke off to wipe her face again. Damn tears kept springing up. "I'm sorry," she half-whispered. "I'm supposed to be a Huntress, and instead, I'm falling apart because of something stupid."

"We all have our vulnerable points, you know," Yang pointed out. "Neptune just happened to find one of yours, and stuck a dagger in it."

Blake retrieved a washcloth from the restroom, wet it, and then knelt in front of Weiss to help her clean up her face, gently wiping away the tears and ruined makeup. "There you go," she announced brightly as soon as she finished. "All cleaned up, and pretty as a painting."

"You guys aren't… you know, freaked out?" asked Weiss, looking around at her teammates.

Ruby plopped down onto the floor in front of her. "Why would you be? We've been living with you for months, and if Neptune hadn't made an issue of it, we still wouldn't have known about it. It's not like you're flashing everyone in the room all the time, like a certain _somebody. Yang._"

If Yang was at all phased by her little sister's admonition, she wasn't showing it, instead opting to arch her back to stretch her muscles-and her shirt-near to the breaking point. "Hey, these babies need room, you know?"

With a mischievous little wink towards her partner, Ruby threw a pillow at her sister, catching her right in the face. Yang snatched up two of her own in retaliation, and just like that, the most epic pillow fight in Remnant's history was on.

And for just a little while, normalcy was restored to Weiss's life in all the chaos.

**[/]**

**Chapter Endnotes: I'll freely admit I'm being unfair to Neptune's character by ramping up his character flaws to eleven.**

**The assault scene was pulled straight out of the 1986 movie **_**Crocodile Dundee**_**, except here, the groping and public humiliation isn't played for laughs. Yeah, it was a long time ago, but it was cruel back then, too.**

**Chapter 2 coming soon! **


	2. The Dance

**Author's Note: Let's get some romance up in here!**

[/]

Three days after "The Neptune Incident," things were pretty much back to normal for Teams RWBY and JNPR. Weiss had been met with benign indifference for the most part, the novelty of the revelation wearing off rather quickly. The few instances of tittering at Weiss's expense had swiftly ended at the harsh glares of both Yang Xiao Long and, to everyone's surprise, Pyrrha Nikos. While Yang's temper was the stuff of legend, Pyrrha had always been cordial and polite to everyone, even as she systematically thrashed them in combat class. _No one_ wanted to see what she could do if she were to actively have it out for someone.

With the exception of his classes, Neptune had been confined to quarters until his team's departure back to Haven Academy, with the warning that any more trouble from any members of Team SSSN would result in their immediate disqualification from the upcoming Vytal Festival.

Weiss was rather glad to be spared the sight of him.

Jaune himself had had a few days of detention with Professor Goodwitch, all of which was spent in the training room, turning his surprisingly effective left cross into a vicious shield bash. If Goodwitch was a bit less exasperated with her pupil and a bit warmer towards him, it was hidden beneath her drive to squeeze some performance out of the boy. He had demonstrated that he _could_ fight, when sufficiently motivated, so that meant bringing that capability more firmly under his control. For his part, Jaune was entirely unrepentant of slugging Neptune in the face, and openly stated that he would do so again if he had to.

Lie Ren had escaped punishment for his part in the fight, on the grounds that no one else in the school could or would take custody of Nora in his absence. Privately, Ozpin had figured that being on Team JNPR was punishment enough.

Through it all, Weiss had remained blissfully ignorant of the brawl that had occurred after The Incident.

There was a particular outing in which Team RWBY had engaged in a running battle against an Atlesian Paladin piloted by notorious criminal Roman Torchwick. A word to her father's people had the SDC on alert, for what good it did now, and Weiss considered the longest consequence of that brawl to be Blake's descent into obsession over the White Fang. In comparison, brawling against terrorists in giant robots was within the norm for Team RWBY.

It was so normal, in fact, that Weiss had entirely forgotten about one minor annoyance in her life before she was outed, which had returned to her with a vengeance that morning. Standing in their doorway, with a beaming smile on his face and a guitar in his hands, was the idiot Arc boy.

Weiss blinked at him. "What are you doing?"

Jaune began to strum the guitar. "Good morning, Weiss! I have a little song for you!"

Her expression could not be any flatter as she simply said "What."

Jaune, with the confidence that only true obliviousness could yield, began to sing for her.

"Oh Weiss, you're so sassy and cool,

You're the smartest girl in this whole dang school,

Oh Weiss, I think you're so awesome and great,

So would you come to dance with me as my daaaaaaate?"

He finished with a dramatic flair. There was a silence for a moment.

"Excuse me," Weiss said politely, before slamming the door in his face.

"Guys, what was that?"

Ruby shrugged from her bed. "Sounded like he was asking you out to the dance."

"Okay, but why though?"

"Uh, because he's only been crushing on you for forever?"

Weiss had genuinely thought that being outed would have put an end to that little infatuation of his. "Does he… does he know about me?"

"Why don't you ask him?"

Weiss turned on her heel and opened the door again, revealing Jaune's still-smiling face. "Arc… Jaune. You are aware of my… condition, correct?"

He frowned, concerned. "Are you sick?"

"I'm transgender."

"Cool, I'm six-foot two."

"What?"

"What?"

Weiss shook her head as if to clear it. "Just… I was born with… male parts, but I've transitioned to live as a woman."

"Well yeah, I knew that."

"Jaune, I haven't had any surgeries," Weiss said bluntly. She wanted to make sure there was absolutely no possibility of even an idiot like Arc misunderstanding. She waited for the realization to dawn on his face, for the inevitable revulsion and disdain that would follow.

Instead of all of that, Jaune merely looked sheepish, rubbing the back of his head and blushing a little. "Wasn't thinking to get that far on a first date, you know. I kind of thought it would be better for us to get to know each other better first. I mean, if you're game, then I can be too, but don't feel like you need to use sex to get a date. With me, or with anyone." He gave a little shrug. "Besides, you're not a collection of parts, you're a person."

Weiss flushed prettily. She… hadn't expected that. "Excuse me," she said again, closing the door, more gently this time, and turning to her partner, slightly panicked.

"What do I do?"

"What do you want to do?" Yang asked from where she had emerged from the bathroom. "You can either go with him, go with someone else, or go on your own. Or stay home, if you want to be lame about it. Whatever you decide, you should probably let him know."

"But… he wants to go on a date with me!"

"Yeah, because he's been crushing on you," Ruby said slowly, as if Weiss had gone completely daft.

"He did punch out Neptune that one time. It was awesome," Yang added.

"What?!"

"Oh, we never showed you? Here, I saved it to add to our Beacon scrapbook." Yang pulled out her scroll and showed Weiss a brief clip someone had recorded with their Scroll. Sure enough, it showed Jaune stride up to Neptune-and hadn't that blue-haired ass moved on quickly to another girl!-turn him around, and punch him right in the face. The clip cut out as the brawl really got started.

Weiss didn't know what to think. "He… why would he do that?"

"Because Neptune humiliated you, and Jaune actually cares about you?" Yang adopted her sister's slower, carefully enunciated tone while Ruby herself just pinched the bridge of her nose.

Weiss stared at Yang's Scroll. "I just… well, he's ridiculous!"

"I mean, yeah," Ruby admitted. "But I bet if you gave him a chance, he would really treat you right and try hard to make you happy."

"If he's so great, why aren't you dating him?"

"Ace, duh! Trust me, if I weren't, I'd be all over that. Or you. Possibly both, I dunno."

Weiss elected to ignore that, lest her brain explode. "So my choices are to accept a well-meaning dunce, or pursue sophisticated men who could be cruel. Idiot or ass."

"Welcome to dating men," Yang quipped. "But seriously, you don't have to be so mean to him all the time."

"You know I can still hear you all, right?" The door muffled Jaune's complaints, which assisted the girls in ignoring them.

"It's just a date to the dance, Weiss." Yang rolled her eyes. "Nothing says you have to go on more dates, or freaking marry him if you let him take you out. At least someone's asking you," she said with a small hint of bitterness. No one had worked up the nerve to ask Yang to the dance, which was, in the blonde's entirely unbiased opinion, bullshit. She wasn't really interested in anyone, sure, but as the most beautiful girl in Beacon, it was the principle of the thing, damn it!

Weiss considered for a moment. Maybe she had been making too big a deal out of this. And if she had misjudged Neptune so badly, she supposed there was a slight possibility that she may have misjudged Arc as well. Weiss made her decision. She returned to the door and opened it, seeing Jaune once more, catching him as he tried to wipe the nervous sweat off his brow with the back of his sleeve. She sighed.

"I will permit you to escort me to the dance. You may pick me up here at seven. I… will see you then."

Jaune's face could have lit up a small town, so bright was his smile. "Thank you Weiss! You won't regret this!" With surprising grace, he carefully plucked up her hand and placed the softest hint of a kiss on the back of her slender fingers. "I'll be counting the days! Until then!"

As Weiss slowly closed the door, she heard an exuberant, entirely unrestrained whoop. Whatever else one might say about the boy-and Weiss had said a lot-no one could doubt his sincerity in that moment. The color rose once more to her cheeks as she studied the back of her hand, feeling a slight tingle from where his lips had softly grazed her skin.

He could be gentle. Gentle was good.

She was pulled from her trance as she realized that there was a strange, high-pitched whining in the room, as if there were a kettle boiling. Looking up from her hand, she winced as she saw Ruby and Yang about to unleash a full-blown squee-storm on her.

"Oh no."

The squee-ing commenced, as the sisters pulled Weiss into a hug.

"We're gonna make this the best dance ever!" the precocious team leader declared, her finger pointed to the ceiling. "Yang, go pull Blake from her Blakey-ness! I'm going to take Weiss dress shopping! Together, we shall triumph!"

Weiss sighed as she let Ruby pull her by the shoulders, as she often did. She could have mentioned that the wardrobe of hand-me downs that Winter had sent her was probably worth more than the inventory of any boutique in Vale, but she didn't have the heart. Not when Ruby was as excited to dress her up as a little girl with a doll. Oh, Ruby had to be forced into heels with a whip, but when given the opportunity to dress up her partner... No getting out of this one, it seemed. A careful observer might have noticed the barest hint of a smile on Weiss's face.

[/]

"Hi, Pyrrha."

"Weiss."

The two girls met at the cafeteria as they waited for the rest of their friends to join them.

"So, about the dance."

To Weiss's surprise, Pyrrha's smile was warm, full and genuine. "You don't need to worry about me, Weiss. No one deserves to go through what Neptune did to you. Jaune's very sweet and kind. I have no doubt that he will treat you with respect."

There was something behind Pyrrha's sentiment that set Weiss on edge. It wasn't the words themselves, which were anodyne. It was… Weiss's eyes narrowed as she realized what it was. Pyrrha didn't see her as a threat. No doubt she saw this as Jaune proving once again what a great and sensitive guy he is, as if he were doing her some great favor by asking her to the dance, and by extension, Pyrrha was selflessly martyring herself to give to her this experience. Pyrrha _pitied_ her.

Oh.

Oh _hell _no.

"You've been infatuated with Arc this entire time," Weiss said. "You're holding back because, what, you think I'm some charity case that needs a pity date?"

Pyrrha demurred, unable to quite meet Weiss's glacial gaze.

"Here's the deal, Nikos," Weiss began. "I'm giving Arc this chance so I can see if I've misjudged him, if I can see what other people, yourself included, see in him. I am allowing for the potential possibility that he may even make for a good match, and if _that_ happens… Pyrrha, I will rock. His. World. He won't even remember other women exist once I get my hands on him."

"He doesn't do that now," Pyrrha muttered, perhaps a little more bitter than she'd been letting on.

"So, if you really do have feelings for him, then you need to do something about it, or else you might not get the chance."

Pyrrha blinked in confusion. "You… want me to compete with you?"

"I want you to _try_," Weiss boasted. "Better that than this absurd martyr act you're putting on. If you decide to drop it because he doesn't feel the same way, or you realize it wouldn't work out, or somesuch, that's one thing, but I refuse to be treated as if I should be pitied. I am just like any other woman coming to swipe your crush out from under you."

Weiss held out her hand. "Game on, Nikos."

Pyrrha took it, her smile bright but her eyes glinting with a hard edge, her inner fires stoked back to life.

"Game on, Schnee."

[/]

The night of the dance, Jaune arrived right on time to Team RWBY's room, looking sharp in a fitted suit, and carrying a white rose. He remembered his father's lessons on women, but more pressing were the words that Ruby had spoken to him a few days before.

"She's actively looking for reasons to respect you," Ruby had told him. "So drop the stupid pickup lines. They would just remind her of Neptune anyway, and you _do not_ want her to think of you like Neptune."

"Right. So… what should I do?"

"Just relax. Stop stuttering and fumbling all the time. Let her see the you that everyone else has."

It was good advice, advice Jaune resolved to follow as he knocked on the door. After a brief moment, involving some shouting, a loud crash, and some severe whispering, Weiss, her shoulders bare in a simple, elegant white dress, cracked open the door and slipped out into the hall. Looking up at Jaune, she winced as they heard another crash, giving the boy an apologetic smile in response to his obvious puzzlement.

"Yang's having a bad hair day. Ruby's trying to help but…" she trailed off letting Jaune put the pieces together himself.

"I know your pain," he commiserated.

"I doubt anyone could match Xiao Long for temper tantrums," griped Weiss.

"Maybe not one-for-one, but I grew up with seven sisters."

She looked at him in astonishment. "_Seven_ sisters? At once?"

Jaune laughed softly, a warm smile as he was clearly recalling some incident. "There was one time when four of them were all crushing on this classmate of mine. All four asked him to the same dance, and like an idiot, he said yes to all four."

"No!"

"Yes!" He offered her his arm, and she took it with casual grace.

"What happened?" she asked as they set out towards the dance.

"Well, my big sister Saphron-she's the oldest-found out, and she roped me into playing a prank on everyone else involved…"

Weiss was surprised by how naturally affable Jaune could be when he stopped trying so hard. He had an easy humor to him, and Weiss found herself covering her giggles with her hand more than once as his story escalated to the point where he had swiped his sisters' erstwhile paramour out from under them with the assistance of crossdressing, stood him up at the dance, and had had to flee from his sisters in high heels. His eldest sister had "come to his aid" by taking pictures as he wobbled along at speed.

It was a ridiculous story, but Weiss thought on the obvious warmth and closeness of the family that he described to her. Okay, so eight children were, objectively, way too many children-had Weiss not been a paragon of good manners, she might have told Jaune to suggest to his parents that they find a hobby-but their casual interactions and lighthearted rivalries were alien to her experience of neglect, secrets, and cold calculation. Even between herself and her beloved elder sister, whom Weiss had idolized, there was a distance, one imposed by age, duty, and decorum.

Weiss resolved to give Winter an enormous Ruby-hug the next time she saw her, just to see how she would react.

As the pair reached the dance, she was surprised to discover that she was smiling, and had been for some time. The two entered the auditorium, the space having been transformed into a more sophisticated venue, the first arrivals beginning to head towards the dance floor. The band on stage struck up a familiar Atlesian waltz, and Weiss looked to see Jaune offering her his hand.

"A dance?"

She took it, trying to mask the dubious expression that tried to break out onto her face. She knew it wouldn't be much of a dance date if she didn't actually dance with her date, but Atlesian waltzes frequently demanded complicated footwork. The other students settled on bare minimum three-beat stepping, but when did Weiss Schnee ever settle for doing anything less than excelling?

It was to her complete surprise, then, that Jaune smoothly pulled her into the proper position, her small hand gently enveloped in his, his other hand upon her back. He led her into the advanced level of the dance, the two of them elegantly turning and spinning together, and soon the other students had stopped to watch the pair as they practically put on a dance clinic.

The band picked up the tempo, signifying that the waltz would soon come to an end. They stepped together perfectly, and Jaune pulled her into a spin at the end of his arm before reeling her back in and catching her close to his chest as the music came to a stop. Their fingers intertwined, and her crystal blue eyes were wide as she looked at him as if he were an alien.

"W-What?" she stammered, still trying to wrap her mind around what just happened.

Whatever he might of said was lost as the watching students gave the couple a round of applause. A rueful smile spread across his face as he looked up to take in the extent of their audience. "I'll explain at the punch bowl?" he offered.

He poured them each a cup, and they took a seat.

"My parents never wanted me to become a Huntsman," he began. "In order to keep me occupied and out of trouble, they enrolled me in all kinds of classes, doing all kinds of things."

"One of which being dance," Weiss finished. "Too bad they couldn't get you guitar lessons as well."

Jaune dramatically held his hand over his heart. "Ooh, ow, right to the soul."

"You've got a lot of Aura, you'll be fine." Weiss sipped her punch. "Maybe."

"I've been talking about my family. What's yours like?"

Weiss made a face. "You know what's better than talking about my family?"

"What?"

"The Vacuoan Tango." She stood up and offered her hand. He took it.

"Are you sure you're up to the challenge?" He teased her. "I can be quite… vigorous."

"I do love a challenge." Weiss's smile was nothing short of predatory as, together, they approached the conductor. A moment later, they stood in the center of the dance floor as the band opened the tango with a dramatic violin chord. Jaune noticed their friends watching and threw them a quick, jaunty salute before taking Weiss by the hands.

The song began in earnest, the sounds of strings and horns punctuated by staccato claps. They moved together at a brisk pace, Jaune stepping perfectly as Weiss kicked her heels dramatically. He pulled her into a daring dip, and she retaliated in the recovery by wrapping a single, smooth leg scandalously high onto his leg, almost onto his hip, locking eyes with him as he stepped back to let her slide into a pose against his chest. And with that, it was _on. _Weiss gave not one whit to anything other than this compelling, and entirely unexpected competition. All that mattered was the dance, feeling her partner and anticipating his moves, allowing him to lead her and then escalating with her responses.

To her, it was thrilling.

[/]

Pyrrha could only watch helplessly as her partner and her rival took the dance floor by storm in their tango. Her jaw dropped as she saw Weiss wrap her leg around Jaune's hip. This… this was not what she had planned on happening.

"See, this is why you don't give an opponent a free shot," Nora helpfully told her as they watched the dance.

Pyrrha had had no idea he was a dancer, let alone one of such skill and grace. And Weiss was right there with him, meeting every invitation he set for her with a provocative move that displayed her grace and flexibility.

It wasn't supposed to be like this! They would go out, Jaune would be, well, Jaune, and Weiss would be, well, Weiss, it would be a huge disaster, and he would realize that there was someone else he could turn to, someone he had been overlooking this whole time. Instead, Weiss was running her hands through Jaune's hair as she arched her back in a low dip, his face perilously close to her bosom before he pulled her up to come face-to-face with her at the conclusion of the song.

"Wow, is it hot in here, or is it just them?" Yang spoke up.

As if she had heard her from across the room, Weiss abruptly realized just how… bold she had become during the tango, and politely disengaged from her dance partner. Her face was flushed from more than just the exertion of the dance as the pair approached their friends.

"You guys were amazing!" gushed Ruby. "He was all like 'bwa!' and you were all like 'here's me-bam!-and here's my legs!' And then…"

Pyrrha's smile was brittle as she watched Jaune sheepishly began to discuss his dancing lessons, while Weiss tried to downplay her more risque movements. As the pair waved off the teasing from their other friends, Pyrrha tried to grasp how she had so badly miscalculated. Without consciously realizing it, she had written off Jaune's ability to successfully interact with his crush. She had assumed that he would screw it up, and that Weiss would be just waiting for the earliest opportunity to ditch him. Instead, he had revealed a talent that no one else knew he had, and if Weiss's body language was any indication, she was, at the very least, intrigued by this revelation. Both of them had zigged when Pyrrha had been counting on them to zag.

She tried to be happy for Jaune, she truly did, but it was hard. Pity aside, she had meant what she'd said to Weiss, that Jaune would be good to her and treat her respectfully. But that didn't mean that Weiss would be good to Jaune, or good _for_ him. And try as she might, Pyrrha just couldn't fathom what Jaune saw in the girl. It couldn't have been her name or her wealth- if anything, Jaune was intimidated by ostentatious displays of riches, and he only knew the SDC as the makers of the Super Dustbox video game console. Was it Weiss's personality? She had completely failed to be even a little subtle in her attempts to use Pyrrha's fame and talent for her own social standing. She had treated Ruby awfully at first, which was akin to kicking a puppy in Pyrrha's estimation.

And sure, Jaune could be a little… _overzealous_ in his attempts to capture her interest, but Weiss's rejections could cross the line from stern to downright mean. In contrast, Pyrrha had always supported her partner, even when he didn't know it, keeping his secrets, and taking the time to train him and pull out the potential that she saw in him.

What did Weiss have that she didn't?

_Well,_ she thought bitterly, _I know one thing she has that I don't._

Pyrrha clamped down on that thought, hard. It was one born of envy and spite, and it was unworthy of her. Besides, Jaune hadn't even known about that when he met her, none of them had.

As her friends broke off to join the dancing, or the punch bowl in Ruby's case, Pyrrha excused herself to lean against a railing on the balcony. The gorgeous campus of Beacon lay before her, so full of possibility.

In a way, it would have been easier on her if Weiss had just been a man. It would have been a clean sever, nothing personal. Jaune didn't return her feelings because he was into other men. Just incompatible orientation, not anything to do with her. Instead, Weiss just had to be the girliest little princess to ever pirouette her way across a battlefield. Jaune was attracted to girls. Jaune wasn't interested in her. Therefore, it must be something about her that didn't spark his interest.

For the first time in a long time, Pyrrha Nikos tasted defeat.

The hint of it hardened her resolve. She had underestimated the factors in play here, and that had cost her this round. But that didn't mean that she was beaten just yet.

A smile, a genuine one this time, spread across her face as the music changed from classical to a more current style. Jaune led Ren and Nora, in formation, into what could only be described as a dance battle against Weiss, Yang, and a bemused-looking Blake. They really were great friends, friends that she never thought she would have. Even Weiss.

With that, Pyrrha let go over her envy and her melancholy and went to join her friends. She may not have gone with Jaune on her arm, but having six friends warmly cheer her on as she dropped in the middle of their petty little dance battle, to bust a move and school them all, was a decent consolation prize.

Plus, she had finally mastered the art of kickstep-kickstep-bodyroll, and she was damned if she'd let the night go without showing it off.

[/]

Weiss had been surprised by just how fine a time she had had that night. She had laughed, and smiled, and danced the night away. Jaune had been the perfect gentleman, listening closely when she spoke, offering the occasional commentary that was actually quite clever, and, of course, being the best dance partner she'd ever had. On top of that… he'd said nothing about her gender all night. He hadn't made a show of deigning to take her out, which meant that he wasn't posturing to look good for some other girl. He hadn't tried to leverage it on _her_ either, which meant that he probably didn't see it that way anyway.

All things considered, taking Jaune to the dance had turned out to be a winning move. Who would have guessed? Well, besides Pyrrha. And Ruby. Possibly Yang as well. The point was, it had been a great night for her. But how much of that was Jaune himself, and how much of that was in the circumstances of a Beacon Academy dance?

Well, there was only one way to find out, if she could steel her courage and swallow her pride to ask. She felt a strange fluttering at the bottom of her stomach as they arrived before the teams' dorm rooms.

"Well, here we are," Jaune said. "I had a great time tonight. Thank you for going with me."

"Right," Weiss fidgeted nervously. "Jaune, I should apologize."

"Hm? For what?"

"I… dismissed you. Disrespected you. I didn't think much of you at all, and that was wrong."

Jaune tried to wave her off, but she grabbed his hand and looked him in the eye. "I confess, you may have been a little annoying with the bad pickup lines and the awful flirting, but I was cruel to you, and you didn't deserve it."

"Well… tell you what," he offered. "Fresh start, me and you."

"Okay." She met his eyes again briefly, before looking down at their hands together. "If you should find yourself so inclined, I would not be opposed to another such outing in your company."

Jaune blinked, a grin slowly spreading on his face like the sun rising. "Are… are you asking me out?"

She couldn't meet his gaze. Not for the first time, she wished her complexion were perhaps not so fair, to better conceal the blood rushing to her face and, to her horror, the tips of her ears too. "I am… allowing you to invite me to a potentially romantic rendezvous between the two of us."

"Has anyone ever told you that you get really formal when you're nervous?"

"I'm not nervous!" she squeaked, almost sounding like Ruby for a moment. "Ahem. Well…" she fidgeted with her fingers once more. "You may kiss me goodnight, if you wish."

"When you put it like that, who am I to refuse the lady's offer?"

She felt his fingertips gently lift her chin to look at his face. Carefully, he began to move towards her, and she stood on her toes to meet him halfway. Their lips touched together, soft and tenderly. Weiss wasn't sure what she was meant to be feeling for her first kiss. If Blake's… _literature_ was any indication, her blood should be on fire right now, with fireworks detonating behind her eyes and her heart threatening to burst from her chest. What was was feeling right now was… safe. She had a pleasant warmth in her limbs, and the tingle on her lips echoed how she felt when he had kissed her fingers. It was comfortable, like staying under the covers on a cold winter morning.

After a few seconds, they broke apart, with Jaune beaming like he was the luckiest goofball on the face of Remnant. Weiss may or may not have had a soft, shy smile of her own. No one could prove it! Lies and slander! It would never stand in a court of law! It was a secret just between Jaune and herself, and Jaune was _safe_.

Jaune's breath escaped in a rush. "G-goodnight, Weiss."

"Have a good night, Jaune."

"Can't imagine one better."

She favored him with a small wave before opening the door and slipping inside. Resting her back against the door, she touched her fingers to her lips, still caught in the pleasant tingling. Her first kiss… she wasn't sure what to make of him. On one hand, he could set her at ease, being almost comfortable. She had a hard time reconciling the boy she had met tonight with the clod who had flailed about with such… indignity at the beginning of the year. And that wasn't even getting in to how he had sparked something in her with his dance with her, something that had her going wild. What was a girl to do?

Too late, she realized that she had been standing against the door for a few seconds too long, and with her hand to her lips and a dreamy, far-away look on her face to boot. Sure enough, she recognized the anticipatory looks her teammates were sending her way. Yang had what could only be considered a smug smirk, while Weiss could practically see the stars in her partner's huge, silvery eyes. Even Blake regarded her with curious interest.

"Oh no," Weiss began. "Begone, you vultures!"

"But _Weiss_," Ruby whined. Weiss avoided looking directly into her puppy-dog gaze, a lesson she had learned early into their partnership.

"Come on, Weiss," Yang dropped a friendly arm around her shoulders. "Girl talk is a sacred ritual of sisterhood, one that Ruby needs to learn. You know she needs help interacting with people."

"Yeah, Weiss," Ruby added, her voice somehow sounding even younger and higher-pitched than usual. What sorcery was this? "Don't you want me to learn how to, uh, contort myself like a proper lady, like you?"

"The word you're looking for is 'comport,'" Weiss absently corrected her partner.

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"Anyway, where did _you_ run off to? Maybe you're hiding some secret paramour from your sister?"

Ruby chuckled. "Yeah, right. I found a thief trying to sneak around when everyone was boogieing. I fought her but she got away."

Leave it to Ruby Rose to spend dance night fighting. For her, Huntress work _was_ recreation.

"Enough trying to change the subject already, gosh!" Yang was getting exasperated with Weiss's evasion.

Ruby gave Weiss a smile that was wide and entirely too innocent. "Besides, you _did_ once suggest we talk about cute boys. And hey, it was even Jaune you were talking about!"

Weiss's eye twitched as she remembered _that_ particular interaction. "Ugh, fine!" She gave in with a dramatic wave of her arms. "Just let me get changed first."

Soon enough, Weiss and the two sisters were seated cross-legged on the floor, while Blake lounged indolently on her bunk. "So," Weiss began, "I may or may not have informed him that I would be...receptive to future excursions in his company."

"She asked him out," translated Blake.

Wordlessly, Yang handed Ruby a ten-lien card.

"Hey! Have you been _betting _on my love life?"

"Ooh, so it's a love life now?"

Weiss narrowed her eyes at Yang, who looked entirely too pleased with herself. Girl talk. Such torture! She supposed it wasn't so bad to have genuine friends to discuss these things with, especially as she sought to sort out her own feelings. But still! She tried to gloss over the kiss she'd shared, which Yang simply wasn't having, meaning Weiss was obliged to discuss the way it had made her feel.

"You know, there are worse feelings that a guy can inspire than 'safe' and 'comfortable,'" pointed out Blake from her kitty perch.

Ruby was feeling smug self-satisfaction. "I told you he would treat you right!"

"Yes, well," Weiss looked slightly embarrassed to have been so open, even with her trusted friends. But at least this was one instance where she had taken a chance once more, and was rewarded with a lovely time and a potential romantic interest, instead of humiliation and emotional anguish. Maybe… just maybe, it would be safe to remain this open, at least with her friends.

Yes, this had been a good night indeed, one of the best of her young life.

Maybe she would have nights in the future that would be even better. It was something to look forward to.

**[/]**

**Chapter Endnotes: First up: Chapter three will be coming out soon. There is still more that I want to explore here. I'm going to hop on the soapbox for a bit in this endnote, so if you'd like to cut out, this is the place.**

**Secondly: This story is the first time I've ever been accused of writing a "trollfic." I wouldn't ordinarily respond to a negative review, since tastes are subjective, and Lord knows I am a decided amateur as a writer. My prose itself is fair game, but I really must object to the impugning of my motivations. This fic, despite my shortcomings as a writer, is a sincere effort to exercise imaginative empathy towards a type of people, using familiar characters and situations as a vehicle. In that sense, I would also hope that this fic is an invitation to the reader to engage in such an exercise with me. Maybe, as children of the internet, some of us have become too inured to ulterior motivations and cynical ploys to recognize sincerity when they see it.**

**I don't know why imagining Weiss as transgender and exploring the dynamics that could create is considered "trolling." On this site, sticking to Weiss alone, we've seen Weiss as a Maiden with a time-travelling boyfriend, a videogame spellcaster, a sometime poltergeist, a Faunus, a full-blown Jedi Knight, a shapeshifting Grimm hybrid with a horn, a dominatrix, and most impossibly of all, close friends with Mercury Black, among many other types of people. In comparison with all of that, imagining Weiss as a transgender girl doesn't seem quite so out there.**

**For everyone still with me, I invite you to chapter three.**

**-Mahina**


	3. The Sisterhood of the Fall

**Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed, favorited, or just read this fic. I'll try to keep my direct address to the audience to a minimum. For some reason, discussing why I write what I write is almost as rewarding for me as the actual writing itself. Makes me wordy.**

**[/]**

For Teams RWBY and JNPR, the second semester seemed to fly past. Team RWBY's first mission had uncovered a massive White Fang operation, leading to a tense battle on a train and the subsequent Breach of Vale. Sure enough, when RWBY called for aid, JNPR had come running, and they hadn't come alone. Weiss had witnessed Jaune taking out an Ursa Major on his own, carving it up with swift, sure strikes, and after the battle, she had made a point of publicly kissing his cheek and loudly saying that she thought he would make for an excellent Huntsman.

It was a good thing that people couldn't actually explode from joy, or else Jaune would have done more damage than the Breach.

After that, Jaune had walked with his head held high with a new sort of pride, the honest pride in one's ability and worth. His progress as a Huntsman, which had already turned around after Forever Fall, had accelerated at an almost unbelievable pace, one that had the faculty giving him informal exams to confirm that he wasn't somehow cheating. Jaune's grades had never been higher.

Pyrrha didn't begrudge her partner that success, feeling proud that the potential she had sensed in him was finally coming to light. Neither did she begrudge his earnest joy, which was such a refreshing change from his insecurity and dismally low self-esteem from the beginning of their term. There was one thought, however, that refused to leave her mind, no matter how hard she tried to quash it.

_Why couldn't I have been the one to bring that out of him?_

It was as if one word of encouragement from Weiss was worth a hundred of hers. Jaune studied diligently, imposing a rigid separation from his work and his recreation-no more comic books hidden in his texts-all in the hopes of a word of approval from his white-haired lady. To make things worse, when Pyrrha tried to compete for his affection, as Weiss herself had practically demanded of her, she found her efforts backfiring, and to Weiss's favor, no less! There was an ancient Mistrali martial art that involved redirecting an opponent's force to subdue them, and if that philosophy could be applied to wrapping Jaune around her little finger, than Weiss was a Grandmaster of the art.

When Pyrrha had stepped up the intensity of her training sessions with Jaune- trying to get his blood up like it had been with Weiss at the dance- she had found him later that evening in Team RWBY's dorm. He'd been _shirtless_, with Weiss gently massaging some soothing balm onto his bruises. When Pyrrha then tried to up the technical sophistication of the techniques that she was imparting to Jaune, hoping to get him to realize how much she could help him grow as a Huntsman, he had smiled, nodded, then ran straight to Weiss afterwards, who had somehow been able to translate combat into dance terminology and vice versa.

When Pyrrha had asked for a training break one week, to see if Weiss's momentum would falter without her own efforts to redirect, Weiss had simply filled the gap in Jaune's schedule, meeting with him on the roof, on _their roof_, to practice fundamentals of Dust usage. To make matters worse, she had had him fire off a mix of fire and lightning Dust in a wind Dust base to make impromptu fireworks, a beautiful backdrop to a romantic rooftop date. He had come back to their dorm speaking excitedly about how she had kissed him as a reward for mixing the formula correctly.

After that particular incident, Pyrrha had kicked six different colors of crap out of her unfortunate opponent during the next day's combat class. The poor bastard had had no idea what had set her off, but after thirty seconds and a decimated Aura, he had literally hidden behind Goodwitch's skirt as he screamed for a forfeit.

Pyrrha had grown so desperate that she even went full-on Yang one day, donning a hyper-tight halter crop top and shorts that could have doubled as underwear as she went about her business in Team JNPR's room. Poor Ren, always the proper gentleman, nearly had an aneurysm when he saw her and the anatomical detail her outfit displayed, and Nora, covering Ren's eyes, had glared lasers of death at the champion. For her part, Pyrrha had practically heaved her considerable bust right in Jaune's face, making sure to take deep breaths and to arch her back ever-so-slightly.

Jaune had merely shifted uncomfortably, and asked her to please consider a change of clothes, as Team RWBY was coming over that day, and he didn't want Weiss to think that his team was unprofessional.

Pyrrha didn't know who she had wanted to stab more at that moment, Weiss, Jaune, or herself, to ease her shame via the Mistrali method of old.

As her leader walked off, Pyrrha had deflated. "I know you're not used to losing, _Pyrrha_," Nora had hissed. "But I'm pretty sure this is where you throw in the towel. And then maybe wrap it around yourself while you're at it."

For all intents and purposes, it was over. Somehow, it was just as Weiss had predicted; Jaune scarcely noticed other women, save for casual amity. If their competition was a fight, Pyrrha had been massacred. She had absently wondered if this was how opponents felt facing against her in the ring. Pyrrha didn't even know what Weiss had done to elicit such a response from him. She knew it couldn't have been _that_, as the gossip in the RWBY-JNPR gang would have _exploded_, but whatever she had done, Jaune was absolutely smitten with her.

That night, she had just about admitted defeat to herself when a message dinged on her Scroll, from Jaune. _I have something I want to give to you, a gift to show how much you mean to me. Meet me on the roof?_

Pyrrha typed in her agreement and hurried to the roof, trying hard not to let the anticipation show on her face. Maybe her dreams had come true? Maybe Weiss's inner heinous bitch had won out, and Jaune was realizing the extent of his mistakes? He stood waiting for her at their usual meeting place, a white box in his hands.

"Hey Pyrrha," he called cheerfully.

"So, what's this about Jaune? I must admit, I'm curious."

Jaune smiled. "Well, Ruby was teaching me about weapons forging, and after I made my very first weapon, I thought that you should have it." He opened the box to reveal a slender, wickedly tapered dagger of honed Mistrali Bronze and red Forever Fall hardwood forming an intricately-carved hilt.

"Jaune, it's beautiful." She took the dagger from the box, admiring the craftsmanship. It was apparent that her partner had put real effort into forging this weapon, simple as it may have been.

"I owe you so much, Pyrrha. I never would be where I am today if you hadn't put so much effort in pulling my sorry butt up and molding me into a Huntsman."

Pyrrha blushed and her heart beat a little faster. Was this really happening? "Oh please, stop. Although, if you want to keep singing my praises, I won't stop you…"

"You've always been looking out for me, taking care of me, even when I didn't deserve it. No, e_specially _when I didn't deserve it."

Pyrrha's eyes glistened. It was happening!

"Yeah, so I thought about it, and I realized, you're just like a sister to me."

What.

"More specifically, you remind me of my oldest sister. She watched over all of us. She's almost a decade older than me, so she was almost like a second mother. So, if you think about it, that makes you almost like another mother as well, or maybe a cool aunt."

Oh, yeah, no, that's _fine_, Jaune. He may as well have taken that dagger and driven it right in between her ribs, twisted it nice and good, maybe get some sawing action going for style. Perhaps he would care for some salt to rub into that wound he just made? No need to worry, Pyrrha had plenty of salt to spare.

"That's… such a… _lovely_ sentiment," Pyrrha eventually worked out.

"I just wanted to let you know how I feel," Jaune said, oblivious to the torrent of emotions going through his partner. He held out his fist for her to bump. "Friends to the end, right?"

"Y-yes. Friends till…" Pyrrha's vision was suddenly obscured by the moisture building in her eyes.

"Pyrrha?! What's wrong?"

She turned to flee back inside. "I'm sorry!" she called, leaving a very confused and concerned Jaune standing alone on the roof.

[/]

Jaune arrived at his team's dorm to find the entrance barred to him, guarded by one Nora Valkyrie.

"What did you do?" She asked pointededly as he approached.

"She's in there?"

"Yep. Bawling her eyes out on her bed. So I repeat: What. Did. You. Do?"

Jaune sighed. "I invited her onto the roof. Gave her the dagger Ruby helped me make for her. Then I told her how much she meant to me, that she was like a eighth sister, always looking out for me, that sort of thing. I hold out my fist for her to bump, she starts crying and leaves!"

Nora facepalmed. "Let me get this straight: you gave her a _dagger _and _then_ you told her she was like a sister to you?"

"Yeah, why? What's wrong?"

"She's only been super mega in love with you ever since the day you met!"

That took Jaune by complete surprise. "_What?!_"

"You mean to say you had no idea?"

"No, none!"

Nora's expression could not have been more skeptical. "Jaune."

"I mean it!"

"Well, you didn't have to lead her on like that!"

Now Jaune was indignant. "I did no such thing! For me, it's been Weiss, Weiss, Weiss, ever since the first day of Beacon. I haven't expressed _any _romantic interest in anyone else, Pyrrha very definitely included, since I got here! What, next you're going to say that you're secretly in love with me too?"

Nora spent the next thirty seconds straight laughing in his face.

Jaune exhaled in frustration. "Look, let me talk to her."

"Yeah, probably not a great idea right now. She still has that dagger."

"What is she going to do, stab me?"

That question hung in the air for a moment.

"Why don't I go in for you?" Nora offered.

"Yeah, you do that."

Nora disappeared into their dorm, leaving Jaune to stand awkwardly in the hallway. After a few moments, Nora reappeared. "Good news, she's not going to stab you."

"Hooray."

"Bad news is, she still can't bear to look at you right now. So… you're gonna have to sleep somewhere else tonight. She also apologized, like, fifteen times. You know how she is."

"Wait, what was that about sleeping somewhere else?"

"Leadership is sacrifice! Here's your blanket and a toothbrush. Goodnight, Jauney!" Nora shoved the items into his hands and slammed the door in his face.

Jaune scowled. "Why do _I_ have to sleep outside? I've done literally nothing wrong!"

There was no answer, and Jaune gave the door a little kick out of spite.

"We still have that Dust exam on Monday!"

The door opened again and his Dust textbook flew out, catching him in the face and sending him to the floor. A second later, it opened one last time, and a small bottle of toothpaste bounced off his head.

Jaune just sighed, gathered his things, and left.

[/]

Jaune set up camp, as best he could, on a couch in the commons. He was at least able to brush his teeth at a sink, so hey, things could be worse. He had thought about asking Team RWBY if he could stay the night in their room, but he didn't want to impose on his friends, and he didn't want Weiss to feel guilty over Pyrrha.

His attempts at studying fell apart in the face of his guilt. He had never meant to break Pyrrha's heart, but he had. It made Jaune reconsider every interaction he'd ever had with his partner, seeing them as if he were an observer watching from the outside. Pinning him to the tree and unlocking his Aura at initiation, their nights on the roof, the endless, unwavering support, and near inexhaustible reserve of patience for him…

How had he not seen it before?

It only intensified his guilt to know that he simply couldn't reciprocate those feelings in kind. Jaune had been open and sincere with his emotions, and tonight had been no exception. He loved Pyrrha, to be sure, but he just wasn't in love with her, not the way he was in love with Weiss. She was just going to have to learn to deal with that like an adult.

Jaune sighed deeply. It was the first time he had admitted to himself that he was in love. He had come to know the frosty little heiress quite well, and had been surprised, and a bit touched, by the deeply emotional and surprisingly vulnerable girl that had been under that formidable exterior. He wondered if the others knew just how fond she really was of all of them. She was warm affectionate glances when she thought no one could see her, soft laughter hidden behind a hand, playful outbursts that came from seemingly nowhere when her mood turned to mischief.

A word from her, and Jaune could scale the tallest mountain, bear the greatest of burdens with a grin, or face an army of Grimm. He would propel himself into the ranks of legend just to make her smile. And speaking of Weiss, here she was, with a thick comforter in her arms.

"Jaune. Nora texted me, and I'll not have you freeze to death while your partner gets herself together."

She wasn't fooling anyone, of course. It was hardly cold enough to rate such a thick blanket, and even if it had been, she could have simply given it to him and returned to her own bed. But he wasn't about to complain, especially not when she tucked herself in under the blanket with him, snuggling under his arm and against him as if she had been cast from a mold to fit just so.

It was complicated, and sometimes messy, and it didn't always make rational sense, but it didn't have to. He was in love.

[/]

Warmth and safety.

Those were the two words that Weiss had come to associate most with Jaune, and as she awoke, snuggled in his arms on a couch in the commons, she had never thought them more apt than that moment. He was lean and wiry, and the arm that was draped over her was solid. Weiss studied the interplay of musculature on that arm, how they cut like the facets of a jewel. She shifted on her side, but her eyes flew open wide as she felt something else pressing into her backside and shifting her nightgown. Weiss instantly turned scarlet, quietly slipping off of the couch, being careful not to wake him up.

In the light of the early morning, her flushing died down, and her heart rate began to slow once more. As her initial panic subsided, Weiss was sorely tempted to lift the blanket and take a peek at what she'd felt pressing against her. Her playful mood and smile faded as she remembered that she wasn't like other girls. What would she even do with him if she got her hands on him? If her body had been born as it was supposed to have been, then when they were ready, it would have been a relatively simple matter. Not that she was thinking of that sort of thing! It was just a… thought. An idle contemplation brought on by too little coffee in her system.

Besides, even if she had been ready for… that, she doubted Jaune would be. She especially doubted that either of them would have been proficient in that sort of activity either. That sort of thing going perfectly the first time only ever happened in Blake's smutty novels, but at least they would have had some idea of what to do. Said smutty novels may have been written with a female audience in mind, but not women like her. No one thought of women like her, outside of punchlines and Mistrali sex tourism.

Ugh. It was way too early, and she was way too decaffeinated, for those kinds of thoughts. Winter had always told her that she needed to differentiate between pragmatic realism and pessimistic negativity. The former would serve her well, while the latter would drag her down. For once, Blake had had the right idea with her high-minded idealism. If the world didn't consider her as anything more than a fetish or a joke, then she would help make a world that would. As she brushed her teeth at the small sink in the corner, she considered writing to her sister. No doubt she would have a lot to say about her recent… developments.

Said developments were stirring on the couch, letting out a sound that was half yawn and half moan, his stretch cut short by a crick in his back. She rolled her eyes fondly as she finished rinsing her mouth and strolled over to him. He sat up and blinked wearily, seemingly confused to see that he wasn't in his dorm room.

"I'm on a couch."

"There's that cunning tactical mind at work. Good morning, Jaune."

Her heart skipped a little to see how his face went from confusion, to recognition, and then unrestricted happiness at seeing her. "Weiss, you stayed with me all night?"

"That would appear to be the case, yes."

"Wow." He looked so innocently _grateful_ to her that she just couldn't resist leaning down and giving him a quick kiss. The brevity was dictated by another minor detail that Blake's smut tended not to address: morning breath. Seriously, at this rate, Weiss was tempted to start her own publishing company, just to set the record straight. Weiss Schnee, Smut Mogul. Her father would have a stroke. Say, now _there_ was a cheery thought in the morning.

She made a comically disgusted face as she held up Jaune's toothbrush. "Hygiene. Now. So sayeth the Schnee."

"Yes, dear."

Weiss almost dropped the toothbrush before he took it from her with a wink. As he shuffled off the couch to go to the sink, she took a moment to absorb what had just happened. Jaune had meant it as a small joke, no doubt, but something about it was authentic, like it was a small sound that he had amplified. For being students camped out on a couch, their entire interaction had been rather… domestic.

Was this what being in a relationship was like?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Jaune, who had slept wearing only his boxers, stretching out the sore muscles of his back. She wasn't _staring_, so much as… observing. Closely. Any lip licking that may have occurred was due solely to the fact that she was deprived of proper lip gloss while she was roughing it in the manner of a barbarian in the commons. Honestly, the things she endured for this boy.

All too quickly, he was clad once more in his usual denim, sweatshirt and steel attire. "I'm gonna have to deal with Pyrrha today," he said glumly.

"At least it's the weekend, so the classes won't interfere."

"You're rich, can't you just buy her a bridge so she can get over it already?" Jaune grumbled.

Weiss frowned. "She would probably be really hurt to hear you say something like that," she told him.

"Yeah, I know… I guess I'm just frustrated." Jaune sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I broke her heart, and didn't even notice. I wasn't just careless, I didn't even realize I needed to be careful in the first place. It's like… Logically, I know I didn't do anything wrong, but emotionally, I feel like a jerk."

She took his hand. "Everything will turn out okay. Pyrrha's a good person, she just gets a little too focused sometimes. She was laser focused on you as an outlet for her problems, so she hasn't considered other solutions. Your team will be fine."

Weiss stood on her toes and gently grasped his chin, pulling Jaune in for another kiss. Minty fresh this time, much better.

"For luck?" He asked.

"No, simply because I wanted to. I have just decided that you're my boyfriend now."

"Oh, so you decided it, did you? What if I had said no?"

Weiss arched an eyebrow at him. "Is there a chance you'd say no?"

"Nope." Jaune's poker face finally broke under the strain of trying to constrain his sheer giddiness. He really was just like a puppy sometimes.

"Glad to hear it. That would have made this whole morning _so_ much more awkward. Now, let's go get your team back on track."

They gathered up their things, and Weiss walked him back to Team JNPR's room. He knocked quietly before entering, and after a few moments passed without him reemerging or hearing the sounds of thrown furniture, Weiss turned to enter her own room. As soon as she opened the door, she could tell Yang was still asleep, her indelicate snoring sounding like a log being milled. The blonde was sprawled all over her bed, covers in a twisted mess around her, a single arm draped over her head, the other dangling over the edge. Ruby was curled in a tight ball in her bed, for once still and quiet in her slumber. Blake was absent, but given that the restroom door was closed and its light was on, she was apparently up and about. Weiss smiled. It may have been difficult at first, but she wouldn't trade Team RWBY for the world.

She considered what to do that day. Coffee first, obviously, then rouse the lazy sisters up for breakfast. Should they go to the training room for team exercises first, or take the day to do something fun in Vale? She would check up on Jaune that afternoon…

Her planning was cut off as she saw a note left on her pillow.

_Go get it, girl! Love, your teammates._

Flipping it over, she saw a picture that someone, most likely Blake, had taken of her and Jaune while they had dozed in the commons. He had pulled her in closely as he spooned with her, and she was grasping his arm with a positively beatific smile on her face as she slept. Somehow, her eyes were smiling, even as they were closed.

Okay, so clearly, she would begin her day with a gruesome triple homicide, _then_ coffee…

She kept the picture, though.

[/]

"Weiss."

"Pyrrha."

Once again, the two sat across from each other at the cafeteria, a few minutes to the two of them before the rest of the gang showed up.

"I… may have made some miscalculations," Pyrrha began.

Weiss winced. "Yes… Jaune was feeling fairly guilty about your meeting the other night."

"Of course he was. He's too good for his _own_ good." Pyrrha shifted, debating what she wanted to say. "One thing I want to know," she began.

"What is it?"

"How did you do it? Everytime I tried to get his attention, you somehow had the perfect counter to everything I tried! How?"

Weiss blinked. "What do you mean?"

Pyrrha's frustration was evident as she began to list the outrages."I try to get his blood pumping, you turn it into a shirtless massage. I try to teach him intricate techniques, you end up dancing with him. I give him some space, you turn it into a moonlit date with fireworks!"

Slowly, Weiss nodded in understanding. "You were caught off guard, huh?"

"Yes! What was your secret?"

"Pyrrha, I wasn't thinking about competing with you. I wasn't thinking of you at all. I was thinking about _Jaune_."

Comprehension slowly filled Pyrrha's eyes, followed shortly by a deep shame. The red-haired Huntress looked as though she were going to cry. Alarmed, Weiss quickly made her way around the table and hugged Pyrrha's shoulders.

"These things happen. That's why we're here, in this school. We're young and we don't fully know what we're doing. It's why we make mistakes _here_, while we have a chance to recover from them."

A few tears escaped Pyrrha's emerald eyes.

"Hey," Weiss told her, "It's going to be fine. You'll learn from this, and that means that when you do meet someone who loves you and you will love back-yes, that _will_ happen, don't give me that look," she said in response to the sudden bitter skepticism on Pyrrha's face, "when that happens, you'll be better prepared for a good, healthy relationship. Everything is going to be okay."

As her rival and friend consoled her, Pyrrha finally understood what Jaune had seen in her.

"I'm sorry I thought you were a heinous bitch," she murmured.

Weiss was unphased. "Meh. I kind of am though."

"Then what do you call this?"

"Everyone has their off days."

[/]

The Vytal Festival Tournament brought young Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training together from all across Remnant, competing with one another in the Amity Colosseum. The migrating, levitating arena was, in itself, one of the grand spectacles of Remnant, with its terrain-altering technology a showcase for the unique talents of the up and coming generation of the world's defenders.

It also had popcorn.

Team RWBY had been victorious in their matchup for the team round, and had gathered together to enjoy a celebratory meal at a noodle stand. Weiss winced as her Scroll continued to stream messages from her father, invective mostly, with the phrase "freakish disgrace to the Schnee name" being about the most cordial of the the words sent her way.

Well, it looks like Daddy dearest had bothered to watch the tournament after all. He had finally noticed her transition, and all it had taken had been literally the most televised event in the entire world. As more of a formality than anything else, she offered her SDC credit card to pay for the team's meal, wincing a little as it was declined.

Winter had warned her that this would be likely to happen when their father found out. He had done the same to her when she had made her intention of serving in the Atlas military known. As a result, Winter's tutelage had not only covered combat and Girl 101, but also a round of financial subtlety. Carefully and religiously, Weiss had always put a portion of her monthly SDC stipend towards… other pursuits, never taking the same amount out twice in a row, and with various alternative explanations on the paperwork. Thanks to the joys of liquid assets, the Vale banking network assumed that "Snow White" was a normal girl from an upper-middle class background. She wasn't Schnee-rich, by any stretch of the imagination, but she also wasn't entirely dependent on her father.

"Money laundering" was only a thing if the money originated from an illegal source, right? Weiss preferred to think of it as "creative application of her allowance."

Fortunately, "Snow" had much better luck with her card, and a good thing too, as Blake would have had a kitty cat coronary had she not been reunited with her fish. More than once, Weiss had wondered if she would ever truly be able to pay back her sister for all that she had done for her.

"Hello again!"

Pyrrha and the rest of Team JNPR waved as they approached their sister team at the noodle stand.

"Do you mind if we join you for lunch?" Jaune was already pulling up a stool as he asked, the question more a polite gesture than a real inquiry. As if RWBY would ever turn away JNPR. It really was unusual how close the two teams were, Weiss considered, as all eight teens dug into their noodles. Normally, teams only got close to each other when siblings were on different teams, and unless they were twins, they would be in different years. The sisters were on the same team, but RWBY and JNPR still had a lot of connections to each other. Ruby and Jaune were great friends. Yang wanted to rival Pyrrha. Nora wanted to rival Yang. Weiss, Blake and Ren formed a support group for people who needed some peace, quiet, and sanity. Pyrrha and Weiss had had some weird romantic competition that had mellowed out into a deeply respectful friendship. And of course, Weiss and Jaune were dating.

Every so often, Ruby had brought up the idea of making one large, eight-Hunter team to go on a butt-kicking spree across Remnant. The idea seemed outlandish. Most Academy teams didn't persist past graduation, and such a large team staying together on a permanent basis was unheard of. But Weiss found herself wondering more and more often if they couldn't make it work. For what had seemed to be an eternity at the beginning of the year, three more years with these people now seemed entirely too short a time.

"So, you guys think you're ready?" asked Ruby, letting out a little burp as she finished. Weiss rolled her eyes in disapproval. Would it kill the girl to learn a little decorum? Actually, it might, come to think of it.

"Of course!" Nora was bright and cheery. "We have a world-renowned fighter on our team, a ninja, I can bench five of me, and... Jaune. We trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda hardly yells at us in class anymore, and, uh… Jaune!"

Noticing the crestfallen look on his face, Weiss quickly decided to speak up. "Yes, Jaune, who can direct you all to use your talents most effectively. That's a great asset for any team."

"Yeah!" Ruby added.

Jaune looked like he was going to say something, when an alarm went off on his Scroll. "Well, that's our cue to get going, guys," he said to his team. He had been trying to be more organized and responsible, less in an effort to actively impress Weiss than to avoid embarrassing her by proxy. It was sometimes overwhelming to realize just how important she must be to him. Once again, she found herself comparing him to a blonde puppy looking to her for approval.

She nodded to him as she gathered up his team. He knew just what to say to each of them, motivating them for the fight.

"Nora! You ready to crush our enemies and see them scatter before our might?!"

"Yeah! Let's brutalize 'em!"

He dropped a hand on Ren's shoulder. "Don't worry, brother, it's almost over. One fight, and then you and I can get some peace and quiet while the girls wreck face."

"Sure, why not? I can keep it together that long."

He turned to Pyrrha. "Pyrrha. There's no one I trust more to have my back."

"Right behind you, Jaune."

"Right." He stood and raised a fist to the air. "Okay, JNPR, let's get it done!"

"Yeah!" His teammates stood and made to leave for the arena.

"Jaune!" Weiss called. Jaune stopped and turned to her.

"You can do this!"

He gave her a thumbs-up and followed his team.

Weiss knew they would come out victorious.

[/]

Technically speaking, just as Weiss had predicted, Team JNPR did, in fact, get it done. She just wished it hadn't been in such an… inelegant manner. It had all been going so well, until Jaune had tried to implement Ruby Rose-style pre-choreographed team attacks, clearly in an attempt to impress Weiss with his growth as a leader. Unfortunately, such a style didn't suit his improvisational tactical style, nor his team's tastes, and his attempt to emulate Ruby could not have fallen flatter.

Weiss supposed that it could have been worse. Holding a heated discussion in the middle of a match had clearly taken Team BRNZ off guard, allowing Nora to eliminate them all in one fell swing of that hammer of hers. Stopping a match for a team meeting was embarrassing, sure, but nowhere near as embarrassing as being the team that got _taken out_ by the team that stopped a match to hold a meeting. Weiss supposed she would bring up that angle if Jaune started to attack himself over it.

The whole thing, doing something completely absurd but still somehow coming out on top, was so unbelievably _Jaune_ that it boggled the mind. Weiss honestly wondered if Jaune's Semblance was actually bestowing good luck proportionate to his dorkiness. Still, a win was a win, and her boyfriend had successfully led his team through the team rounds of the Vytal Festival Tournament. Weiss _was_ proud of him, even if it was a rueful, facepalming kind of pride.

She wondered if that was how Glynda Goodwitch felt about watching her students.

Her mood soured as she saw the lineup for the next match. Team NDGO was facing off against Team SSN. She tried hard not to hold it against Sun, who was a decent kind of boy, even if he was a little obnoxious, or against his other two teammates, who she didn't even know. That didn't stop her from tensing as she saw the telltale blue hair of her first crush, the boy that had humiliated her.

"Are you sure you want to stay for this?" Ruby asked, her expression concerned. "We can go if you want…"

"Please, Ruby. I am more than capable of comporting myself with restraint in the face of such a _verminous_ and _inglorious_ figure."

"Weiss, you're getting all Weiss-y again."

Her skin crawled as she saw him flirting with the girls of Team NDGO, and from their reaction, she wasn't the only one. She couldn't believe that she had ever fallen for such a slimey act. What had she been thinking? Then the arena microphone system picked up what he was saying to them, and Weiss got _really _angry.

"Try to remember ladies; hands _above_ the waist."

Before she even knew what had happened, Weiss was on her feet. _"Break his stupid face!" _she shouted at the top of her lungs, a wavering finger stabbing in his direction.

It was the exact wrong thing for him to have said; as they peered at him, the girls on the Arena floor recoiled as they recognized him.

"Ew, it's the Groper!"

"Don't let him near your skirt!"

"Why did they even let him compete?!"

"Ew, ew, ew!"

Neptune deflated. "Wait, what?"

"You did it to yourself, dude." Sun had little sympathy for his partner's plight, especially since his stunt had cost him a possible dance date with Blake. Nothing personal to him, she had said, she just didn't want any associations with that incident to spoil Weiss's night. Aside from being a total jerk move in itself, Neptune's attack on the teammate of his own crush was also a serious violation of the Bro Code. Not cool, dude.

Back in the stands, Weiss slowly lowered her hand. "Upon further consideration, I believe a change of venue may be for the best."

"She's gonna go find Jaune, push him against a wall, and angrily make out with him," Blake said, without looking away from the arena.

"Hey!"

"That's not a denial," Yang teased.

The match began, and Neptune tried to dash past Team NDGO for some reason. Something about the water? He didn't get very far, as one of the girls, assuming he was out to grab them, clotheslined him with her staff out of panic, his own momentum sending him crashing to the ground with stunning force. The four stomped on him for a while, the beatdown punctuated by occasional cries of "Gross!" and "Don't let him up!" Eventually, the other boys were obliged to come to his rescue, and the fight began in earnest.

Weiss shook her head and left.

[/]

She sent a message to Jaune, ignoring the archive of outrage sent from her father. A few moments later, Weiss met him at the entrance of the arena.

"Hey, Weiss. That wasn't the prettiest victory but-woah!"

He cut off as she took him by the hand and dragged him to a nearby alcove. She really was sorely tempted to actually shove him against a wall and have at him, but doing so would be… indecorous. And it would also have made Blake right. Remnant couldn't very well stand to have that happen, so Weiss settled on allowing him to pull her into a tight embrace. She rested her head against his armored chest, feeling his body through his hoodie.

"Wow, someone's affectionate today." Jaune planted a kiss on the top of her head. "Is everything okay?"

Weiss thought about it. What was Neptune to her, really? He was just some sleazy loser creeping around girls, some unfortunate garbage to be discarded and forgotten.

"It's nothing," she said truthfully, for Neptune truly was nothing, or less than nothing, in her eyes. The boy in her arms, however, was very definitely someone. To Jaune, it didn't seem like nothing, but if being a tall, lanky stuffed animal to cling onto made her feel better, a tall, lanky stuffed animal he would be.

"Jaune?" She kept her face buried in his chest.

"Hmm?"

"Did I ever tell you the two feelings that always come to mind when I'm with you?"

"What's that?"

"I feel… warm. Not just physically, but… an emotional feeling, all over. I barely know how to describe it. It's as if the sun shone from the inside."

One of his hands was stroking her hair. "What's the other feeling?"

"Safety. Like… my feet are firmly planted. Or I'm hiding under the covers, so nothing can get me. It's like feeling grounded and armored at the same time." She shook her head. "Sometimes, it feels like I'm running to you to get my emotional fix, like an addict or something."

"Oh no, Weiss Schnee is fond of her boyfriend! How could such a thing happen?"

"Clearly an oversight on my part."

"Clearly," he echoed. He had a sneaking suspicion that he knew what those feelings she described meant, but he kept quiet. It was something that she would have to decipher for herself.

She pushed herself away from him a little, taking his arm as she looked up at him, all crystal blue eyes. "Do you think-"

Whatever it was she was going to ask was lost as her hand tightened hard against his forearm. As they watched, a dejected Team SSSN made their way to a waiting Bullhead. Apparently, they were in some kind of heated argument, the blonde monkey Faunus waving his arms wildly as he yelled at his partner.

"The point is, we wouldn't be in this situation if _you_ weren't always dragging this team down!"

"Me?! Sage was out in seconds!"

"Yeah, trying to save _your _dumb ass! And what did you do? You ran off as soon as we got them off of you!"

"I told you, I was in lockdown!"

Sun went nova. "_The only thing in lockdown is you, you idiot!_" The boy had a healthy pair of lungs, that was for sure. Weiss had never heard him truly angry before.

"I know! And did you hear what those girls called me?! A groper! They called me that in front of everybody! How am I gonna pick up chicks if they keep bringing that up? If you think about it, _I'm_ the victim here!"

"That's what happens _when you grope somebody!_" howled Sun. _"You get called a groper!"_ The rest of their argument was lost as the Bullhead's rotors fired up and the quarreling boys boarded the aircraft. Weiss realized that she had been clamped onto Jaune's forearm with a white-knuckled deathgrip, and carefully released it.

"I'm sorry."

"It's all right."

She shook her head. "No, it isn't. I shouldn't let someone like that affect me so. I am supposed to be a Huntress. Ugh, I'm so stupid."

"Hey, don't say that about yourself. You're the smartest person I know. You may be a Huntress, but you're also still a person." Jaune carefully put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back in to his embrace when she didn't tense under his hand. "He hurt you, and it's okay to still have strong feelings about that."

"I don't want it to control me."

"It won't. You're too strong for that." His smile was so pure, she couldn't help but believe him. "Besides, from the sound of it, Team SSSN got a beatdown. They won't progress, you won't have to face them in the doubles, and after the Tournament, you'll never have to see him again."

"What about the next tournament?"

"Uh, we'll have Nora break his legs before it starts?"

Weiss laughed, a small, restrained little thing, but no less sincere for it. " Oh Jaune, you say the nicest things."

They heard the sound of engines whirring from high above. As they looked, Weiss had a look of first recognition and then joy dawning across her face. She ran out of their alcove into the arena courtyard, the small girl dragging her boyfriend by the hand. "I know that ship!" she cried, pointing to the large white airship that passed over the arena. "It's my sister!"

Jaune couldn't help but smile at the unrestrained, childlike joy and excitement she was exhibiting. It was as if that unfortunate sighting of Neptune had never happened. "Jaune, come meet my sister!" Weiss happened to catch sight of the rest of her team exiting the stadium, and she ran to them, heels slacking on the pathway as she continued to pull poor Jaune along for the ride. "Ruby! That airship has my sister, Winter! You simply _must_ join us to meet her!"

Ruby shared his fate as Weiss snatched her up as well. Weiss was a rather small girl, but she dragged both her partner and her boyfriend through main force of personality. Jaune and Ruby shared a look as the white-haired girl practically threw them onto a Bullhead. They didn't know what to expect from the older Schnee sister, but they were in agreement that it was good to see Weiss so happy.

[/]

Weiss nervously straightened Jaune's hair, again, as she waited at the Beacon landing pad. She tried to ignore her partner's snickering as she attempted, in vain, to quickly buff out a scratch on his chestplate. Ruby just didn't understand. This was her sister, her _sister_, meeting her first boyfriend! She had picked him out herself! She voluntarily associated with him, and in a romantic sense, no less! What if Winter didn't approve of him? What would she think if she thought she couldn't pick out a good match for herself?!

"Why are you so nervous?" asked her adorable dunce.

"Why are you not?! What if she doesn't approve of you?"

"Would you dump me if she doesn't?"

She stared into those deep rich blue eyes. He was just so… so… so _Jaune_ that she couldn't imagine leaving him solely on someone else's say-so, even Winter's. If she didn't approve, than she would simply have to find a way to show her what she had found in him. "No," she admitted. "No, I wouldn't."

"Then why should I be worried?"

"You guys are so cute!" Ruby gushed. Weiss stopped fussing over Jaune and fell into a parade rest as the airship hatch hissed, the sign that it was about to open.

The hatch to the airship opened and a ramp extended down. Leading a troop of Atlas battle mechs was what appeared to be a taller, older version of Weiss. Jaune thought she looked rather severe, with her hair in a bun and her gait speaking of careful precision. Perhaps this is what Weiss may well have grown up to become had Nice Weiss, as Ruby called her partner, not manifested.

The woman came to a halt a few feet away from her younger sister. Weiss was visibly fidgeting, trying to control herself as she seemingly wrestled with some inner conflict.

"Hello, sister."

"Winter!" Decorum lost out, for once in her life, as Weiss launched herself at her older sister. She wrapped her arms around Winter's neck, clinging onto her for dear life as her feet dangled off the ground. For her part, Winter seemed completely surprised by this turn of events, before awkwardly returning her younger sister's embrace.

"Hello, little snowflake. I take it you missed me?"

Winter lowered Weiss down to the ground as they broke their embrace. "Ahem. Well," Weiss looked embarrassed at her outburst while Ruby shrugged at Jaune. Her reaction seemed fairly normal to them. Not necessarily normal for _Weiss_, but the point still stood.

"I'm so glad to see you, Winter! Why didn't you send word beforehand?"

"I am glad to see you as well, though less heartened by seeing how much you still need to learn in combat."

"What?" Weiss's face fell. "But… we won!"

"Yes, but I still counted eleven missed strikes. In real combat, against more skilled opponents, those errors could well cost you your life." Winter sighed a little as she saw the crestfallen look on Weiss's face. Sometimes, her little sister reminded her of a white-furred puppy, always following her around and trying to win her approval. If she was going to lead the dangerous life of a Huntress, and the even more dangerous life of a reformer to the SDC, Weiss _needed_ to become nearly untouchable. The harsh realities still stung though, and Winter hated seeing that look on her face.

"Still, I suppose your teamwork was adequate enough, and I am pleased to see that you are socializing well here at Beacon. Are you going to introduce me to your associates?"

"Of course," Weiss said with a little bow. "This is my team leader, Ruby Rose. Ruby is a prodigy who was admitted two years early."

"It is a pleasure to be… acquainted to your...um, acquantance-ness!" Ruby attempted to curtsey, but lost her balance, her arms flailing for a few seconds before she regained her equilibrium. "Yeah."

Winter looked over to Jaune while Weiss recovered from her facepalm. "And this," she said, nervously taking his hand, "Is Jaune Arc. He's the team leader of our sister team, Team JNPR, a cunning tactician, and… my boyfriend."

"I see." Winter first turned to address Ruby. "Thank you, Miss Rose, for befriending my sister. She spoke highly of you in her letters to me… after an initial adjustment period."

"Aw shucks, it's nothing. We're super besties! Uh, I mean, we have… integrated as a… um, social… compunction?"

"Do try not to strain yourself overmuch."

"Okay!"

"As for this 'boyfriend situation'..." Winter took in Jaune, in all of his scraggly, be-hoodied glory. "Weiss, when I had heard that you had expressed a romantic interest in a boy, I was not anticipating you to so attach yourself to someone so… underwhelming."

"Well, hello to you too." said Jaune, more than a little offended to have been so dismissed.

Weiss hid her wince. She supposed that it was to be expected, as she hadn't had the warning to make Jaune more presentable. Still, she had prepared for this occasion, and Yang had helped her with the perfect argument that she said would make her older sister listen.

"Jaune may not seem like much at first glance, but I can assure you, that is merely because he is a grower, not a show-er," she said proudly.

For some reason, Winter's jaw dropped, and Jaune made a strangling noise beside her.

"What?" she asked. Ruby shrugged, as much at a loss as she.

Through sheer force of will, Winter regained control of herself. "Weiss… what do you think you mean by that?"

"Well," Weiss nudged the ground with her boot. "It means that he has a lot of potential that people tend to overlook. It takes the support of a dedicated woman like myself to really get my hands on him and make it apparent for all to see. He has a lot of growing to do, but if I make a wise emotional investment in him, it will pay dividends down the road. In fact, it already has."

Winter let out a long sigh. "Weiss, I do believe you have been subjected to a prank. Maidens, I really have put off this talk for too long. I am here on a mission, but there will be time… no, I will _make_ time to inform you of things that every young woman should know, and that women in your situation in particular have had to discover for themselves."

"Okay…" she wasn't too sure if Winter meant what Weiss _thought_ she meant, but there would be time to discuss that later. Her sister knew best. Blake's smut hadn't been all-knowing, after all.

"In the meantime, I have a little time before I am to report in. Why don't you show me to your quarters? I wish to inspect them, to ensure that they are up to my standards. Good day, Miss Rose. Mister Arc," Winter's gaze could freeze blood solid. "_We will have words later._"

After spending so much time with Weiss, Jaune had thought that he had developed, if not an immunity, than at least a resistance to the patented Schnee Death Glare. Nope. Weiss was a harmless and adorable bunny compared to her big sis.

"Don't worry, Jaune, I'm sure she'll warm up to you, just like Weiss!" Ruby, ever the optimist, attempted to cheer him up as they watched Weiss, her sister, and the complement of robots walk down the way. He walked with his friend as she began excitedly discussing RWBY's plans for the doubles rounds, when they saw a crowd gathering and cheers coming from the sound of a fight. The pair ran to see what was happening, and saw Weiss watching her sister engaged in a high-speed duel with a tall, lanky man.

"What happened?" asked Ruby.

Weiss looked bewildered. "Some crazy man just started attacking my sister!"

"Oh no! Who would do such a-_that is my uncle!"_ the younger girl cried, her voice shifting from concern to unbridled glee. "Kick her butt, Uncle Qrow!"

Not to be outdone, Weiss clenched her fists and shouted "Teach him respect, Winter!"

Jaune shook his head. Priorities, right? "Don't you think we should uh, you know, do something?"

"Nah, let them fight, this is cool!" Ruby gushed. Jaune just shook his head once more.

"Weiss, glyph!" Jaune called. His tone was so… assertive, so commanding, assured without being harsh, that Weiss, without even realizing it, just did it, setting the glyph for him.

"Wait, Jaune!" Before she could undo her action, Jaune launched himself with her glyph, sending him careening towards the fighting adults. He managed to draw his sword and expand his shield just in time to intercept a blow from each of them. The crossguard of his sword stopped the curved tip of Winter's saber scant centimeters from one of his eyes, and his left arm, folded in half by his head, formed a wall of bone to reinforce his shield, bearing the force of a downward strike from Qrow's heavy two-handed sword.

"What are you doing?!" Winter spat at him.

"What are _you_ doing?!" Unphased, Jaune glared at her. "Is this the example you want to set for Weiss? Brawling with some drunk!"

"Winter, please stop!" Weiss ran to join them, grabbing her sister's arm. "Don't hurt him!"

"Stay back, Weiss, this is dangerous!"

Qrow smirked as he retracted his weapon and sheathed it behind his back. He'd proven his point, and with the kids involved, it would be even better when Jimmy showed up in 3-2-1…

"Schnee!"

Showtime.

"General Ironwood, sir!" Winter's shock and mortification were complete as she withdrew her saber and turned around to see the General, with Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch in tow.

"Now, now everyone, there are sanctioned fights at the arena all day. They have better seats… and popcorn," Ozpin said with an easy humor.

"Break it up!" Goodwitch shouted, always the disciplinarian. "And the rest of you, move along!"

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Ironwood, staring down his subordinate.

"He started the altercation, sir!"

"Qrow, or the boy?"

"Qrow, sir."

"That's actually not true," Qrow pointed out, leaning casually with his hands behind his head. "_She_ attacked first."

Ironwood's look darkened. "Is this true?"

Winter couldn't look him in the eye.

"You, boy." The General called as Jaune sheathed his sword and collapsed the shield into its scabbard form. "You are a student here, correct? What made you jump into a fight between two Huntsmen-level combatants."

"If you don't mind, I'll take care of questioning these two," Ozpin spoke up. "But the General's question _is_ a good place to begin. Mister Arc, please tell us why you did such a thing."

Jaune looked sheepish. "Well, sir, I was still armed from the Tournament match. I'm almost always armored, and I have a metric ton of Aura, so without any teachers around I was the best placed to stop the fight. We had an Atlesian Specialist and an unknown, inebriated fighter who could take her on. One or both of them would likely have a firearm in their weapon, or else Dust or some other ranged option. The students wouldn't be armed or armored, and they wouldn't be expecting trouble, so a missed shot or a ricochet could really hurt someone. All it would take would be a little bad luck."

At that, Qrow finally looked a little guilty, for some reason. Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "And you, Miss Schnee? The younger, if you please."

Weiss blushed a little. Was he really going to make her say it? "Well… I couldn't let him run off and get hurt. The big dolt is important to me."

"I see." Ozpin sipped his cup. "Here at Beacon, we teach tomorrow's Huntsmen and Huntresses to stand ready to protect others, as well as each other. I am pleased to see those lessons reflected in your actions today. Here," Ozpin reached into his coat pocket and retrieved a pair of tickets. "Every time the Vytal Festival is hosted in Vale, I'm always sent tickets to various events, which I, unfortunately, rarely have the time to attend. These are for a performance from the Vale Symphony tonight. I'm sure a young man and a young lady will be able to find some better use for them than I could."

Weiss took the tickets with a small smile. "Thank you, Professor."

"It's a small thing, nothing more. You children run along now."

Weiss hesitated. "Am I… going to be able to see my sister later?"

Winter's heart broke a little at the trepidation in her voice. Weiss must have been looking forward to seeing her so much, and now that was likely not going to happen due to her allowing that drunken moron to bait her into a fight.

"I will need to discuss this incident, and the standards of the Atlesian Specialists, to Specialist Schnee at some length aboard my ship." Ironwood paused as he saw that even Qrow looked about ready to protest on behalf of the young soldier. Qrow may have been an irresponsible, drunken ass, but even he was a dedicated family man. He sighed. "But I will allow Specialist Schnee another visit to Beacon in the near future. Just not today."

"It's okay, Weiss. You go have a nice time with… your friend," Winter struggled to get the last part out.

"Ooh, that sounded like it hurt to say," Qrow gloated as the kids reluctantly walked off. "How does it feel knowing your baby sister has better game than you?"

"Can it, Qrow!"

"_Ahem_," Ozpin coughed meaningfully. "If you would all care to convene in my office, we might discuss the true reason you are all here?"

[/]

A few days later, Weiss met with her sister in a peaceful garden patio. Winter helped her as she trained with the hereditary Schnee Semblance. When mastered, it would enable her to summon icy, spectral copies of enemies she had defeated in the past, which could be most versatile a solution for a variety of situations. Though Weiss had yet to fully summon the Arma-Gigas she had slain, Winter knew that it would only be a matter of time.

Training was easy. The next part was where the difficulty came. Not seeing any easier paths forward, Winter simply cleared her throat and resolved to press ahead. "Tell me, Weiss, do you… feel sexual attraction towards your boyfriend?"

Weiss tried not to blush, she really did, but she remembered the feeling of him pressed against her on the couch, and couldn't help the rising of blood to her face, or the little smile that spread on her face. She wasn't able to look Winter in the eye. "I… that is…"

Winter sighed. "I suppose that I shall have to take that as a 'yes', then. There are many things to tell you about how to… deal with such attractions. Some are common to all women, but you, my sister, are in a rather different situation."

The older sister walked over to a table, taking a seat, and began to transmit files from her Scroll to Weiss's. "Unfortunately, the state of proper academic research into transgender sexuality and health is rather shambolic. The Institute for the Science of Sexuality was located in Mantle, and was destroyed a century ago, just prior to the Great War. Its research was burned in the streets, and many of its researchers and patients were put to death, or were forced to flee the Kingdom."

The Kingdom of Mantle had attempted to suppress Grimm attacks by suppressing self-expression and all emotion. It was a reign of stark austerity and rigid conformity, and exceptions to the expected norm were suppressed by the power of the state, often with violence, violence which spilled over into a war that shook Remnant to its foundations. A century ago, a transgender girl like Weiss would not have been safe in Mantle. The end of the war had brought an end to the regime, but Atlas was still more staid and rigid than Vale, Vacuo, or even Mistral. No one had ever thought to ask the Faunus of Menagerie what they thought on the subject, so, like many things, the Faunus perspective was missing from formal academic inquiry.

"Since the Great War, most treatment of transgender individuals, particularly women and girls, assumes asexuality, or tends to ignore the subject all together," Winter continued her lecture. "But in that vacuum, trans women have established their own, informal lines of transmitting information about themselves, to themselves."

Winter produced a text, and slid it across the table to her sister. Weiss read the title aloud: "_Loving_ _Trans Women._"

"You are not the first woman to be born this way, nor are you the only one now," Winter told her. "You may not personally know any others right now, but they are out there, and you are not alone in this." She got up from the chair and walked over to her little sister, giving her a hug. "I love you, baby sister. Never doubt that. Irrespective of your gender, the most important things to remember are to keep things consensual and safe. No one has the right to make you do anything with your body that you do not want to do. I just wish for you to be happy and well, little snowflake."

Weiss suddenly found it hard to speak past the lump in her throat. "I love you too. You're always looking out for me," she said. "I just don't know what I would do without you."

"Apparently, without me around, you attract scraggly blondes." Winter sarcastically replied, as she released her sister and returned to her seat.

"He's not so bad," Weiss defended her boyfriend. "He can be…" A bashful smile returned to her as she found the right word. "_Gentle._"

Winter merely arched an eyebrow at her. "You may feel free to spare me the details. For the record, my providing you with this information is _not_ an endorsement of dragging your disreputable boyfriend into a broom closet. Now, let's go over this, and see if there are any questions I can answer."

They spoke the rest of the afternoon, and well into the evening.

[/]

Weiss considered herself to be possessed of a rather sharp wit, but she preferred private, sarcastic commentary, either to be enjoyed on her own, or shared with a sufficiently snarky associate, such as her boyfriend. "Trash talking," as the common people referred to it in the vernacular, just seemed rather dreary in comparison. To be quite frank, it was beneath her.

Trash talk was commonplace in the Vytal Tournament, of course, but Weiss tried her hardest to refrain from it. All things being equal, she felt nothing but sympathy for Flynt Coal and the plight of his father, driven out of the Dust business by her own father's ruthless and unethical business practices. But one question of Flynt's sent the trash flying.

"Hey, isn't the Schnee heir supposed to be a boy?"

"Hey, isn't the Coal family meant to be employed in the Dust industry?"

And with that, it was officially on.

[/]

Life was looking up for Weiss Schnee. She had helped her teammate get past the doubles round with a daring, self-sacrificing maneuver. Her father was furious, but as she was prepared, his attempts to yank her financial leash fell flat. She had a doting and attentive boyfriend, and all manner of ideas that she fantasized about trying with him some day. If her sister didn't actively approve of him, she at least stopped making active threats against his life. Her team was rocking along, she had friendship and sorority, and she couldn't wait for the next school year to begin.

Then Yang broke the leg of her defeated opponent, and the world stopped making sense.

[/]

_Game set and match. Take care of Jaune. He won't understand why I have to do this. Goodbye._

Pyrrha sent the message to Weiss's Scroll as she watched the distant flame of the rocket locker she had trapped Jaune inside. He would be safe. He would live, and that was the only thing Pyrrha wanted for herself. She stood at the base of Ozpin's ruined tower, clouds swirling furiously overhead in the night. A dragon haunted the grounds, but Pyrrha knew that the real monster stalked the top of the tower in human form.

Pyrrha drew her blade. Destiny called.

[/]

**Chapter Endnotes: I strongly debated breaking this into two chapters. I hope that this isn't too long.**

**I may have been hard on Pyrrha, but in a White Knight story with parts set during Beacon, she either has to lose out, or not be interested in Jaune in the first place.** **I tried to place it in context of a supposed competitive streak that went askew for her.**

**The Institute for the Science of Sexuality was a real thing in our world, except it was located in Germany, and the people who burned its research and either killed or drove off its researchers and patients were the Nazis. **_**Loving Trans Women**_** is a real publication, but its real title is rather more explicit than that.**

**The next chapter is going to be rather difficult for Weiss, as it will contain instances of emotional and physical abuse from her father, so consider yourself warned. But Weiss is strong, and she will get through it, I promise.**

**-Mahina **


	4. The Mirror, pt I

**Author's Note: Content warning for emotional and physical abuse.**

**[/]**

Weiss couldn't believe it had all gone so wrong, so fast.

Beacon was _gone_.

In one day, one horrible, _awful_ day, Weiss's world had fallen apart. Team RWBY and Team JNPR were shattered, and Weiss didn't see how they could ever be whole again. Ren and Nora had been injured fighting Atlesian Paladins, the very machines that her homeland had built to keep people safe. Yang's arm had been severed by the White Fang leader that had been stalking Blake, the two of them barely escaping.

As long as she lived, Weiss would never forget the haunting wail of loss, regret, and horror that had escaped Yang when she had regained consciousness and realized that the traumatic severing of her arm wasn't some horrible nightmare. That sound must have been reverberating in Blake's mind, the soundtrack to her guilt.

Weiss had gone with Ruby to try and save Pyrrha, answering Jaune's desperate call for help. She had used the last of her Aura to summon the glyphs that sent Ruby to the top of the tower, the awful Grimm dragon stalking the grounds like a walking nightmare. And then… a burst of white. Weiss still didn't know what, exactly, went down at the top of the tower, but Qrow Branwen had returned to the base of the tower with a comatose Ruby in his arms, and a bronze circlet.

Pyrrha Nikos fell in battle.

It… it was still hard to believe it was real. Pyrrha had always been the best of them, near-untouchable in a fight, making it look effortless. She was a goddess of victory, and… she was gone. Weiss felt a yawning pit in her gut open, and the chill across her body had nothing to do with the autumn Vale night.

When they had returned to Yang, she had become hysterical at the sight of her sister laying limply like a broken little bird in their uncle's arms. She screamed, she hyperventilated, and she had swung the truncated stump of her arm wildly until she realized that Blake had left them once more. When the full weight of that realization hit her, Yang just… shut down. The last time Weiss had seen her, Yang was sitting next to her sister's body, staring wide-eyed and unblinking, with only the occasional tremble to show that she hadn't actually died of shock.

Weiss had been preparing to head out into the Grimm-infested zone once more. Jaune was still out there, and with a broken leg from his crashed rocket locker. When she neared the exit of the makeshift infirmary and refugee camp that the surviving students and Hunters had set up in Vale, she was met by a group of SDC security goons.

She harbored no illusions as to the character of many of the men who answered to her father. They were hardened, bloody-handed veterans, who carried out their missions with grim efficiency. Their morals were determined by the highest bidder, and _no one_ bid higher than Jacques Schnee.

"What do you want?" Weiss asked warily.

One of them, their apparent leader, stepped forward, hefting a heavy rifle over one shoulder. "Weiss Schnee." If the man looked surprised to see a teenage girl instead of a boy, he didn't show it. "Your father has ordered us to bring you home to Atlas."

"Grimm are still attacking. As a Huntress, my place is here."

"Your compliance is requested, not required."

"Hey, now." Weiss turned at the sound of a familiar, raspy voice, and saw a visibly weary Qrow Branwen stride to stand next to her. "The Princess here says she doesn't want to go with you, so why don't you buzz off?"

The security thug seemed entirely unfazed by the appearance of an adult, professional Huntsman. "Any interference in the course of SDC operations will be met with lethal force." At this, both the leader and the dozen or so of his fellows behind them levelled their weapons at Qrow, the leader's gun barrels beginning to rotate.

"Whoa, hey now, let's not get too hasty." Qrow quickly put his hands up. "There's still a lot of Grimm out there, and we have wounded here."

"Then I suggest you refrain from interfering."

Weiss knew what the man was really saying. _Come with us, or we slaughter everyone and say the Grimm did it_. Ordinarily, a group this size would have no chance against this many Huntsmen and Huntresses, but they were fresh, while the cadets were bloodied, weary, drained of Aura, and exhausted. Port and Oobleck were the only two in full fighting condition, and Port was quite elderly for a Huntsman, while Oobleck wasn't a front-line combat specialist.

She didn't want to go. She really, _really_ did not want to go. But she also would not stand to have her vulnerable comrades in arms injured further or killed for her sake.

Weiss turned to Qrow. "Mister Branwen… Sir Qrow… there is a young Huntsman out there, in the city, named Jaune. His leg is broken. You'll know him by him being tall, blonde, and scraggly. He wears a black hooded sweatshirt and a white chestguard. He's the leader of our sister team, a friend of your nieces, and… he's dear to me. If you could find him and bring him to safety, I would be in your debt."

Qrow looked at her for a moment. "Yeah… sure thing, Princess."

"Tell everyone that I'm sorry. I won't have them hurt on my account." Weiss took a deep breath to steady herself, and then stepped forward, allowing the men to take her into custody. The last she saw of Qrow before they rushed her onto an airship was the older Huntsman take a deep, weary sigh before he hefted his greatsword and began to make his way into the city one last time.

[/]

Returning to Atlas, or more specifically, to the Schnee Manor, after living at Beacon for a year was as jarring a shock for Weiss as plunging her hand into a barrel of ice water. The entire building was heavy with an oppressive silence, broken only by the soft clicking of her heels as she strode across the marble floors. It was hard for Weiss to believe that she had really spent her whole life here, and it was only the time spent at Beacon that enabled her to realize what it was that had been missing from this place all that time.

There was no love here. The Schnee Manor had all of the emotional warmth and comfort of a mausoleum. The only one to greet her on her return was Klein, and while she truly was happy to see the butler again, it wasn't the same. This wasn't home. Home was a cramped dorm room with makeshift bunkbeds. Home had a boisterous firebrand, a quiet Faunus girl with a breathtaking knack for getting into trouble, and a zippy little redhead with an enormous scythe and an even bigger heart. Home was right across the hall from a hyperactive orphan, a reserved, refined young man, a champion who just wanted friends, and the sweetest, gentlest, most driven puppy of a man she'd ever met.

Her home was gone, and it was never coming back.

Weiss let out a great, weary sigh as she reached her old room. What she had once considered "spacious" now just seemed… empty. She could have easily fit both RWBY and JNPR's dorm rooms in their entirety in a space meant just for her. Weiss knew that it wasn't from any particular affection or sentimental value that her father placed on her; like everything else about the Schnees, the extravagant excess of space that they could command, even on a floating island, effectively conditioned her since childhood to see such luxury as her baseline entitlement. Where her teammates had had no problem adjusting to dorm life, even solitary Blake, even the spatial arrangement of her daily life prior to Beacon had deliberately instilled her to be above and apart from everyone else.

In retrospect, it was a miracle that Weiss hadn't come to Beacon as even _more_ of an insufferable bitch.

With _that_ pleasant thought in mind, Weiss peeled off the filthy dress and jacket that she'd been wearing since the Fall of Beacon. It was stained with smoke and ash from burning buildings, and the front had a great bloodstain smeared across it from where she had helped apply a tourniquet and bandages to Yang's severed stump. Where she wanted to take a Huntress's shower, the brief, perfunctory ritual of scrubbing the grime from her body, she instead had to deal with a bathtub that was practically a small pool. Where before, she had taken it as her due, the sheer luxury of it all now felt almost grotesque to her. No matter how the expensive soaps scrubbed and exfoliated her skin, she still somehow felt dirty.

It was just so… _unnecessary_. Her grandfather's exploits had made her family well and truly rich, so why did her father feel that he simply had to squeeze every last lien out of everyone he possibly could? As a minor, her monthly allowance had been enough for a middle-class Vale family, like the Xiao Longs, to live comfortably, even to have something socked away for a rainy day. And those were humans! How much of a difference would that sort of money have made to the many, many Faunus workers whose work made that fortune possible? The SDC could well afford to pay its base workers to live with some dignity, and her family would never feel the difference.

While the SDC wasn't responsible for all of the anti-Faunus bigotry in the world, as the industry leader in the Dust industry… and several industries that utilized Dust in their products… their labor practices effectively set precedent across Remnant. Their influence in the realms of economics, politics, and cultural norms, both in Atlas and around the globe, had dire ramifications for the lives of Faunus everywhere. How much of the White Fang's violence could be explained due to her family's provocations?

How much responsibility did Weiss, herself, hold for the Fall of Beacon?

She stepped out of the bath, her hair and skin clean, but her mood foul. That mood was darkened even further when she saw that her white dress, jacket, and heeled boots had been taken away, probably to be incinerated, and a servant had left a new outfit folded neatly on her bed.

She unfolded blue slacks, a white, button-down shirt, and a blue vest. A pair of silk boxer shorts lay next to them, and a pair of black loafers waited at the foot of her bed. The wardrobe of hand-me-downs that Winter had given to her was gone now, lost in the ruins of Beacon Academy. Winter almost certainly had no more clothes left here, and Weiss rather doubted that she would get the opportunity to enter her mother's chambers to try and find something to wear. She could either dress like a boy or go naked, and somehow going naked struck her as being decidedly impractical.

After quickly dressing, Weiss examined herself in a mirror, one that Winter had given to her long ago.

Ugh.

As her hormone treatments had taken effect, Weiss's relationship with her body had entered a sort of detente state. So long as no one brought up what lay between her legs, she was, in general, satisfied with her appearance. But, she had always taken care to wear what clothes she could that best emphasized her femininity, and these clothes that she was being made to wear now were… not flattering. At all. She recalled what Winter had told her the first time she had put on a dress.

[/]

_Then_

Winter watched her little… brother? Sister? Her Weiss, she watched her little Weiss carefully as the eleven-year old kid looked at the mirror. Their crystal blue eyes were wide with wonder as they took in the light blue and white child's dressing gown that they had asked Winter to "pretty please" try on.

As Winter looked on, Weiss broke into a wide smile, their little fists clenched happily under their chin before they gave a quick little spin, admiring how the skirt flared out around them. In retrospect, Winter shouldn't have been surprised. Weiss had always chafed at being presented as a boy, Jacques Schnee's little prince. Her little sibling had physically resisted haircuts, trying to grow it long "like Winnie's."

When she had caught Weiss wearing some of her old clothing, Winter had opted to braid Weiss's hair, explaining how to take care of it and style it properly before setting the child in front of a mirror. Most boys would have had some resistance to it, or embarrassment over it, but Weiss took to it like a natural.

"Am I not pretty, Winnie?" Weiss looked to her for approval.

"Yes, yes you are," said Winter carefully. At only sixteen herself, she wasn't entirely sure how best to handle this sort of situation, but it was obvious that Weiss adored her. It would be entirely too easy to hurt them a great deal if she weren't careful.

Weiss reached out and touched their reflection in the mirror. "Winnie, can I… can I be a girl like you?"

She knew that, by the reasoning of Atlas orthodoxy, a cultural philosophy inherited from Mantle and espoused by their father, the answer would most likely have been 'no'. There was an order to things, and the delineation between categories was stark and impermeable. People were people, and animals were animals, which is why their father held the Faunus to be mere beasts. By the same token, men were men and women were women, and if Weiss were to come out as transgender, many in Atlas, too many, would deride her as a mere pervert pretending to be a woman. The was no room for the liminal, the ambiguous, in the ideal Atlesian mindset. The lines simply could not be allowed to blur.

Winter couldn't bring herself to say to Weiss that she couldn't be a girl. There was a fire in Weiss's eyes, one that Winter saw reflected in the mirror every time she resolved to find her own way in the world. She would not, _could not, _snuff it out. Winter always knew that she loved her younger sibling, but the full extent of just how much threatened to take her breath away, like a hit to the gut.

She knelt in front of Weiss. "Weiss, listen to me. Only you can discern who or what you are, and only you can decide who you are going to become as you grow up. No one else can decide for you, not me, not mother, not even father. There are people out there in the world whose bodies are one sex, but their minds and souls are a different gender. I don't know if that's how you are, but if you truly feel that that is the truth of you, than I can help you. There are therapists that specialize in gender identity, and later down the line, there can even be treatments to make your body more like any other girl's."

Weiss's eyes were huge and guileless, crystalline windows into a pure soul. "Really?"

Winter nodded. "Yes. But I won't lie to you; it will be difficult. Many will not understand. Some will despise you. A few may even attack you. Father will _not_ approve. He will resist, and possibly force you to dress like a boy. It probably won't be until you're a teenager like me that you would be able to strike out on your own."

"Father doesn't love me anyway," Weiss said bitterly, the memory of last year's disastrous birthday still painful to recall. "But Winnie… if I say that I'm a girl… would you still love me?"

Tears streaked down her face as Weiss looked up to Winter, fear and anxiety writ large in her expression. Winter's heart broke, and she pulled Weiss into a tight embrace. "Boy or girl, I will never stop loving you. Never, never, _never." _She stroked Weiss's hair. "You will always be my precious little snowflake."

"Winnie… " Weiss sounded so small. "I'm your sister. I'm a girl. I've always been a girl."

Winter held her sister, feeling her hot tears seeping into the shoulder of her blouse. "It's all right," she soothed, as she continued to stroke her hair. "It's all right." They stayed that way until all of the tears had run their course. Slowly, Weiss let go of her big sister, and Winter awkwardly rose to her full height. "We will continue to meet in private, little sister. There are a great many things I will need to teach you. I will also talk Father into signing a power of attorney so that I might oversee your treatments. Suggesting you have a behavioral condition will most likely do the trick. But for now, I'm afraid we'll have to get you back into your old clothes."

"Do I have to?" Weiss gave one last twirl of her skirt in front of the mirror.

"I'm truly sorry, but for now, it is for the best. Consider it undercover training for your future as a Huntress."

Weiss pouted as she reluctantly began to pull the dress over her head. Winter just sighed.

"Weiss, just remember that clothes don't make a woman a woman. You are who you are, no matter what you may be forced to wear."

[/]

_Now_

Weiss felt her resolve strengthen as she remembered her sister's love, support, and wisdom. Of course, she thought ruefully. Winter would look glamorous and feminine in a potato sack, while the unflattering outfit she was stuck with made her look like she had the physique of a board. While she knew that, with her small frame, Xiao Long-class battle breasts would look more comical than anything else, it would be nice to not look entirely flat. Also, while she had always been slender and gamine, the way the shirt hung off of her completely obscured her waist and hips.

Still, just because this was the outfit she was stuck with for now, it didn't mean that she couldn't alter it. Unfortunately, the only alterations she could think of that would work with the material in question were Yang-based. She would cut the slacks down into a pair of short-shorts, truncate the shirt to show how her abdomen curved like any other woman's, and button the vest under the bust to try and emphasize what she did have. Entirely un-Weiss-like, but it would be the best she could do in this situation.

At any rate, she would make sure to at least get some pictures of the results on her Scroll. One way or another, she _would_ speak to her teammates again, and when she told this story to Yang, she knew that the blonde would tease her mercilessly.

And she would love hating every moment of it.

[/]

Qrow Branwen made his way down the dirt road that led to Taiyang's place. He looked like hell, and he knew it. It had been three days since he had brought his nieces home, and he couldn't remember such a harrowing weekend in his life. Ruby still hadn't woken up, and Yang had fallen into a depression much like her father had all those years ago. To his credit, Tai was holding it together, as he was mostly just relieved that his girls were alive and safe, if not well.

For his part, Qrow had been doing his part to keep him up-to-date, but with the CCNet down, communication was disrupted all over the world. It was a grade-a shitshow out there, which is why the absolute last thing he wanted to see was Winter Schnee, of all people, waiting for him on the road.

"What, what do you want?" he asked brusquely. In his time having known the young woman, he had seen beyond the cold mask of indifference she normally displayed to the world to see the emotions underneath, ranging from irritation, exasperation, outright rage… but never before had he seen her look so close to full-on panic.

"Weiss," she began. "They said you know what happened to her."

"Ah. Shit." Qrow winced as he saw the panic really set in. "She should be fine, she was alive when I saw her last," he said quickly. "Some of your old man's goons showed up while we were collecting the wounded, demanded she go with them."

"And you didn't stop them?!" Winter _surged_ towards Qrow, grabbing him roughly by the front of his shirt.

"Hey, first of all, she went willing, or at least as willing as it gets when someone's pointing guns your way." Carefully, he pushed her arms down and off of himself. "Said she didn't want anyone getting hurt 'cause of her, and I don't blame her. We had a lot of hurt kids there, including my two nieces."

She wasn't listening anymore, an expression of pure terror and panic on her face. "He has her. _He has her! _Qrow, he has my sister!"

Qrow had seen this sort of behavior before, but usually only from parents who had been separated from their children in a Grimm attack. Never in a million years did he think he would see such a thing from Winter Schnee, of all people.

"Okay Winter, deep breaths." He waited as she complied, slowly regaining her composure. "Good. Now, why are you so worried? Your dad's a jerkass, sure, but Weiss is the heiress, right? Why do you think he would hurt her?"

"You didn't know?" Winter looked genuinely surprised. "Qrow… Weiss is transgender. And our father was _furious_ when he saw the Vytal Festival and finally found out. I don't know what he'll do to her, but it won't be good."

Qrow sighed. "Well, sounds like you and Jimmy need to get her back. My girls are still down, but when you get yours free, tell her her partner will be headed to Mistral."

"You seem… very sure of that," said Winter.

"Trust me, I know the kid, ain't no stopping her when she gets her mind to something."

"Very well." Winter looked left, then right, and left again, before surprising Qrow once more by embracing him. "Thank you for telling me," she murmured, letting him go.

"Uh, yeah, sure. I know what it's like." He scratched the back of his head, feeling awkward in a way he hadn't since he was in friggin' Beacon. "Damn brats just grow on you, until one day, you can't imagine them gone."

Winter nodded and turned to leave, before Qrow called out to her. "Hey, Ice… Winter. Your girl is going to be okay. Ruby always said Weiss was super smart, so if anyone can figure out how to stay safe in that place, it'll be her. "

He saw the mask slide onto her face once more, the indomitable face of a woman on a mission. The only emotion he could discern from her expression was an unstoppable, glacial fury that sent shivers up his spine.

"... Thank you, Qrow. I'm sure you are correct. And if not, then prepare for a world without the SDC, as I will raze it to the ground."

[/]

Weiss spun elegantly in the open space, Myrtenaster in hand, as she worked to sync her muscle memory to the emotions that had brought out her Arma Gigas summon during the Battle of Beacon. Well, she had partially succeeded in summoning it. Now she knew that it was possible, and that there wasn't anything wrong with her Semblance, only her mastery of it.

That was a state that Weiss would not allow to stand.

It had been over a week since she had been brought back to Atlas, and none of her family had made an appearance yet. Weiss could scarcely stand the isolation. Sometimes, she found herself instinctively bracing herself to hear a high-pitched call of "Weeeeeisss!" coinciding with an impact as her clingy partner found some new excuse to invade her personal space. One night, Weiss had woken up in a mild panic as she realized that Ruby hadn't finished her Applied Dust report, only to remember that Ruby had been in a coma, Professor Peach was dead, and Beacon itself was gone.

There were no more calm, afternoon tea sessions with Ren and Blake. No more ladies' lunches with Pyrrha, or caffeine-fueled cram sessions with Ruby and Yang.

And then there was Jaune.

Weiss never realized just how central a figure he'd become in her life until he was gone. She constantly caught herself mentally noting this thing or that to bring to his attention, whether it was some aspect of training that she thought he could use, or something as simple as poking fun at the waste of space in the Schnee Manor. Weiss would sometimes stop herself from making a half-turn to the left, where Jaune would usually have been standing next to her. She missed his arm around her shoulder, the feel of his presence next to her, and his snarky little comments that he would mutter just loud enough for her, and only her, to hear.

She missed the feeling of his hand enveloping hers, the soft, gentle touch of his skin on hers. Weiss wanted to feel his lips, his hair, the feel of his hands on her waist as he pulled her in close to him. There was a part of her soul that had grown accustomed to the feelings of warmth and safety that he instilled in her, and it was rebelling against the cold and loneliness that was seeping in from the Schnee manor.

Weiss _would_ see him again, all of them again, even if she had to bulldoze Atlas to do it. And that meant being at the top of her game, moreso than she ever had been before. Her isolation had only been broken by a brief physical examination from a doctor that had come to her room the day before, and that left her with all the time and space she needed to hone her skills to the razor's edge.

Without a knock, her door opened up, and Jacques Schnee entered her room. She spun to a stop facing him, watching as he appraised her in her shorts, truncated shirt, and tightened vest.

"You look like a degenerate whore."

He sneered at her, and left without another word.

Weiss gave her rapier a little twirl. "Well, that went about as expected."

[/]

The next day, she was reading up on reports from Vale when her father returned. Weiss didn't bother looking up.

"Hello, father. Are you ready to be civil today?"

"You will cease this behavior at once."

With a put-upon sigh, Weiss put aside the paper. "So, should I take that as a 'no' then?"

Jacques stood at the doorway tall and imposing, his expression impassive. "Do you have any idea what it is that you've done?"

"Oh, let's see; I passed Beacon's initiation with flying colors, became a part of one of the best teams of our year, if not the whole school, made friends with both my own team and our closest rivals, landed a literal knight in shining armor as my boyfriend, and _consistently_ scored at the top of the class in the most prestigious Huntsman institution in the world. I also pulled a clutch victory for my team at the Vytal Festival, fought the White Fang, fought at the Breach, and fought with honor at the Battle of Beacon." She paused for a moment to dramatically examine her nails. "And I looked _amazing_ while doing all of that."

Jacques' mustache twitched as he visibly fought to control himself. "Young man, you clearly have taken leave of your senses if you think that what you have done has made you anything but a laughingstock. It has made the _Schnee name_ a laughingstock!"

"So now Jacques Schnee cares what people think? I've been out there, in the real Remnant, away from your sycophants and lackeys." Weiss glared at her father. "Father, _no one_ had anything good to say about you. Not a one. Not humans, _certainly_ not Faunus, not the wealthy, not the poor, no one. At best, people endure you, out of economic necessity. But what you've done has done more to drag _my_ family name through the mud than anything I could do in a hundred lifetimes!"

A silence fell heavily through the room. "You will cease this behavior at once," Jacques repeated. "Clearly, I have erred in allowing you the freedom to attend a Huntsman Academy. I underestimated Ozpin's desire to humiliate me personally by influencing my eldest son to mince about like some freak."

"Four years," Weiss said quietly.

"What was that?"

"I've been out and openly living as a girl for four years now. You just never noticed. How does that feel, I wonder, to be so terrible a parent that your _daughter _has made such a momentous transition in her life, and you only noticed as she took part in literally the most televised event in the world?"

Jacques' gaze narrowed, his eyes cold, predatory shards of stone. "_I see._" He was barely able to force his jaw to unclench enough for him to force the words out. "You are an even bigger fool than I thought."

"I do love exceeding expectations."

"Shut up and _think_," he hissed. "This is part of some plot from my enemies, probably that fool Ironwood. He must have promised your sister a position in the military in exchange for ruining my heir! Ironwood is far more cunning than he lets on…"

Weiss stared wide-eyed at her father's raving. His paranoia had clearly taken hold of him, for him to have conjured such a convoluted plot from thin air.

"And how it worked!" spat Jacques. "You've ruined yourself! You've chemically castrated yourself, you idiot _freak!_ No doubt your sister considers this a fine revenge for having to renounce her inheritance!"

She wasn't entirely sure that she was sterile, considering that the doctor's insistent attempts to get her to give him a sperm sample were met with repeated refusals of growing intensity. While the generalities of the effects of hormone replacement therapy were well-known, the specifics varied wildly from person to person. A lowered sperm count was to be expected, but was it enough to render her sterile? Weiss didn't know, and she certainly wasn't about to… emit into a cup to satisfy her father's demand to know for sure. If she even could. She never had before, and wasn't sure that she was even able to. Though she kept it a secret as best as she could, there were times when Jaune was holding her when her _arousal _made itself known, so she assumed that it was possible, but she wasn't about to volunteer that information to the likes of Jacques Schnee. The way he was acting now, she wouldn't put it past him to try to put her to stud and produce grandchildren, in case Whitley didn't work out.

As for his accusations against her sister's motivations?

_No one has the right to make you do anything with your body that you do not want to do._

_Only you can discern who or what you are, and only you can decide who you will become as you grow up._

_I just want you to be happy and safe, little snowflake._

_I will never stop loving you. Never, never, _never.

_I love you, baby sister. Never doubt that._

Weiss dismissed those accusations without a second thought.

"Have you considered," Weiss began slowly, "that maybe, this isn't about you?"

"What?"

"Not everything that happens in this family, in Atlas even, revolves around you. I came out to Winter. She protected me, taught me, guided me, but I chose to transition because it made _me_ feel happy and complete. Not you, not her, no one else but me. Winter supported me because she _loves_ me. There doesn't have to be an ulterior reason."

She didn't know how Jacques somehow managed to find new and innovative ways to deepen the disgust and contempt with which he regarded her, but somehow, he did. "You stupid, ignorant boy. There is always an ulterior reason. _Always_. Love is a lie used to sway the sentimental and the foolish into acting against their own interests. And no one could ever bring themselves to truly love a deviant freak like you."

[/]

_Then_

Winter rushed up the stairs to Weiss's room as soon as Klein had told her what happened. There, she saw her little sister crying at the bathroom sink, bleeding from dozens of small, shallow cuts on her face. She held a naked shaving razor in one hand as she dabbed at the cuts with a wad of bathroom tissue.

"Weiss!"

"I'm sorry!" Weiss sounded miserable. "I was… I had _hair_ growing on my face, and I didn't know how to get it off but shave it off but I don't know how and-and-" She broke into hiccups as her big sister gently took the razor from her hand and peered at her sister's face. Sure enough, there was just a hint of fine, white hair beginning to sprout on Weiss's upper lip, and a few small patches on her cheeks.

"Promise me you'll take me to get the pills, Winnie. I've known I'm a girl for years now, don't… don't let me become all gross and manly."

Winter supposed that she had put it off for long enough. Weiss had never wavered from her steadfast belief that she was, in fact, every bit a girl as she was, and at thirteen, puberty would start kicking in in a big way. Winter had read everything she could find about transgender people and especially transgender children, and while the experiences that trans people reported varied, one constant was the anguish of going through the wrong puberty, the feeling of horror as their own bodies turned against them.

Some critics argued that thirteen was too young for a child to make such a decision, but the sad truth was, many transgender people never made it to adulthood. This incident had been an apparent accident, but when Klein had rushed in to tell her that Weiss had been cutting herself with a _razor_… Winter couldn't bear the thought of her precious baby sister being driven to hurt herself.

"I promise. I'll take you as soon as I can schedule an appointment. Just… please don't hurt yourself, little sister."

Weiss looked abashed as she took in the bloody mess of the bathroom sink. "I'm sorry, Winnie. I didn't mean to scare you."

Winter pulled rummaged through the medicine cabinet and began to open up a pack of medical antiseptic wipes. "This is going to sting a little, but it will keep those little cuts from getting infected."

The younger sister endured Winter's ministrations without complaint. "Do you think the pills will make the hair stop growing?"

"Possibly. If not, there are certain ways to permanently remove the hair from your face."

"Good. If I grow a mustache like Father's, I swear, Atlas will _burn,_" Weiss muttered darkly.

The idea of Weiss, this little doll of a girl who had only ever sought to impress her, going on a fiery rampage of havoc and destruction, complete with an oversized mustache, pulled a rare giggle out of Winter. She caught herself, but not before her sister had stared at her in shock and surprise, and before they both knew it, they were laughing together, just two young women giggling like idiots.

[/]

_Then_

"Tag!"

Weiss blinked as she looked up at an expectant Nora, who stood tapping her foot on the grass.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Come chase me!"

The white-haired girl looked left and right in confusion. It had been a beautiful day at Beacon, so she had opted to wait for Jaune to get out of class outside. Her… boyfriend. It still felt odd to say, or even think. Boyfriend. A friend who was a boy. A friend who was _her_ boy. Booooyfrieeeend.

At any rate, she was far from the only one to enjoy the day, as students could be seen kicking a ball around the grass, unfolding picnic blankets, or just lounging in the sun. Weiss had been quietly reading when Nora came up to her, poked her shoulder, and then demanded that she chase her.

"Nora… why would I chase you?"

"Because that's how you play tag, silly!"

"Play… tag?" Weiss was truly mystified, even more so when Nora got that odd, sad look on her face that she sometimes did whenever they spent time together. Almost like she pitied her, but for something besides her gender. Why else would Nora find reason to pity her?

Nora plopped herself down next to her, all gangly limbs. "You know… one of us touches the other, and that person is It! Then whoever is It chases someone else to make them the new It. Tag!"

"Is that… is that a Huntress exercise?"

"Yes. That is what that is." Nora's tone turned sly. "But it's okay if you're not very good at it. I mean, after all, you never even heard of it before today. It's perfectly understandable that you wouldn't be as good as Ruby at-"

"You're on! I, Weiss Schnee, shall become the Mistress of Tag!" Weiss stood, posing dramatically with one hand on her hip and the other pointing towards the sky. Nora loved when Weiss got silly, but she couldn't always tell if she knew that she was being silly or not. That just made it better, and Weiss was able to be silly a lot more since she and Jaune-Jaune had become A Thing.

Nora then found out that her glyphs made Weiss very, _very _good at Tag.

Weiss had just about declared her supremacy over Nora when she heard a high-pitched call of "Weeeeeeisss!" Sure enough, a streaking cloud of red rose petals coalesced into her partner, who practically had hearts in her eyes. "You're playing Tag!"

"I'll have you know that I am the Mistress of Tag!"

Ruby gasped. "But that can't be, for _I_ am the Mistress of Tag!"

Weiss narrowed her eyes into glacial shards. "Then we needs must battle to the death, Ruby Rose, for there can be only one!"

Ruby reached out and poked her on the nose. "Boop. You're It!"

The two of them zipped along at tremendous speed, their Semblances empowering them to play the most high-velocity game of Tag in memory. Eventually, Nora jumped back in, making up for her lack of speed with her effectiveness as an ambush predator, the fearsome Norasaurus Rex. She and Ruby wrestled Weiss to the grass, where she looked up to see her bemused friends.

"Jaune!" Weiss cried out. "Save me from these cretins!"

Jaune played along, puffing his chest out and using his best dorky hero voice. "Never fear, fair princess, I'll save you!" With that, he tackled Ruby off of his girlfriend, putting his "sister wrangling" skills to good use.

Weiss sat down to catch her breath as she watched the rolling ball of wrestling dolts go by.

"There goes a brave and stupid man," Yang commented as she and Pyrrha joined her.

"He's _my _brave and stupid man," Weiss said fondly, but then she winced as she realized that Pyrrha was there with her. "I'm sorry, I-"

Pyrrha waved her off. "Eh. It still stings a bit, but that's life, you know? But… I was wrong about you two. I was worried you wouldn't be good for him, but he's been doing so well lately. I'm just glad to see him so happy. And I _know_ he's been good for you, too."

"Hey, P-Money, there's always more fish in the sea. If it's a blonde you want-"

"Yang, no offense, but you couldn't deal with all _this_." Pyrrha interrupted, gesturing with her hand to her body, just as she arched her back ever so slightly, lifting her bust. Yang's eyes practically bulged, and her jaw dropped.

"Wait, what?"

"Sorry, Yang. Even if you could handle me- and you so couldn't, by the way - I'm afraid I just don't feel that way about other girls. _Sorry._"

Yang's mouth worked as she tried to stammer out denials, denials which came to an abrupt end as Pyrrha _stretched_ her arms over her head. Yang made a sound which was almost words.

"Bye, ladies!" Pyrrha walked off to join Ren in the shade of a tree as Yang slowly got her breathing under control.

"Weiss?"

"Yes, Yang?"

"I think I like girls."

"Yeah, that's… not really a surprise, Yang."

Yang stalked off, muttering something about "stupid sexy straight girls in armor," as Jaune jogged up to Weiss. "Hey Weiss," he said as he sat next to her on the grass. "What was that about?"

Weiss hesitated, then pulled his arm over her shoulder, leaning against him when she saw he offered no complaint. Jaune had decided that Nice Weiss was a great Weiss to be dating. She noticed that he smelled like fresh-cut grass. "You smell nice," she murmured. "Anyways, Yang's teasing finally backfired on her. As it turns out, Pyrrha can out-tease her when she sets her mind to it."

Jaune smiled down at her. "I'm glad you two are getting along. Speaking of which, thank you for playing Tag with Nora. You really made her day."

Weiss smiled softly as she looked around. Ruby and Nora were playing some game with their hands in the grass. Pyrrha and Ren were sitting quietly together in the shade. Yang was animatedly griping to Blake, who was ignoring her magnificently. And she was here with Jaune, warm, safe, and happy. She was part of a group of people who loved her, who valued her for her own sake, and not for what her name and riches could do for them. Weiss couldn't imagine a better afternoon.

"She made mine too."

[/]

_Now_

"And no one could ever bring themselves to truly love a deviant freak like you."

"You're wrong." Weiss didn't shout, didn't scream, she just denied her father in a calm, measured voice. "There are people out there who truly love me, and who I love in return. I've felt it. I've known it. They knew all about me, and they didn't just love me anyway, they didn't see it as a flaw to overcome. It doesn't matter what you say about me. I deserve to be loved and respected, and I deserve to be with the people who will treat me that way. That is why I wish to leave. I will be of legal age in Atlas in a few weeks anyway."

Jacques stared impassively at her for a long moment. "There are only two ways forward for you now."

"I'm listening."

"The first choice open to you is that you stay here. You will cease indulging this insane delusion that you are somehow a girl, and submit yourself to treatment that will attempt to salvage what can be saved of your…" He struggled to find the right word. "Form. In the interim, Whitley will be the heir until or unless you can prove yourself, to my satisfaction, that you are a good and dutiful _son_."

"We can file that under 'Never going to happen.' What is the second option?"

"The second choice that I am granting to you is that you persist in your delusions, but you will not do so under my roof and using my name. You will renounce the Schnee name and make your way in the world under a new identity."

Weiss knew that she could technically do it; she even had the Snow White alias and accounts set up, but what she would not and _could_ not do was surrender her name and her family legacy.

"Over my dead body."

"That can be _arranged!_" Jacques' nostrils flared as he lost the battle to keep his composure. "Do you think you would be the first deviant to hang from the side of Atlas?!"

Weiss felt her own temper well within her. "The Schnee name is _mine_ to uphold! You have no right to demand I surrender it! _I _am a Schnee, and _you_ are a pretender!"

Jacques slammed his fist into her mirror, the mirror that Winter had given her years ago. He grabbed a broken shard of glass and clenched it tightly in his fist, ignoring the blood welling from his hand. He set upon his daughter.

For just a moment, Weiss was once more a frightened little girl, hiding from her father's rages. She gasped as he roughly tore the tiara from her hair, pulling and ripping.

"Stop it, you're hurting me!"

Her father sawed through her ponytail with the sharp glass shard, severing her hair from her head. When Weiss saw him bring the glass towards her face, the adrenaline and her training overcame the natural aversion that she had towards striking her own father, even now. No more was she the frightened little girl, hiding from her father's rages. She would never be that again. Now, she was a Huntress.

Her small fist thundered into his solar plexus, driving the man back and forcing his hands to open from the impact. Jacques looked up in pure shock and fear as Weiss stared at her hair drifting through the air. She focused on the crumpled, ruined tiara, which lay on the floor with so much blood-tinged white hair covering it, like a layer of falling snow.

[/]

_Then_

"Remember to keep to your training. You cannot afford to be anything less than the absolute best."

"Yes, Winter."

Weiss looked to her sister, the older woman clad in the uniform of the famed Atlas Specialists. Winter's talents had taken her so far, and at such a young age, and yet she still took all the time she could to mentor Weiss. The younger sister would be applying for Beacon Academy in a few months, where her talents would be further honed by dedicated professionals, and where, hopefully, she could blossom fully into adulthood away from their father's control.

Winter felt the very tip of her lip twitch upwards. "I have a present for you, sister."

Weiss curtsied, the very picture of ladylike decorum. "I wish very much to see it. A present that meets your exacting standards must be magnificent indeed."

The older woman held out a small box to her sister. Inside was a jeweled tiara.

"Winter… this was mother's." Weiss picked out the tiara to admire it with reverent awe.

"Yes, which means that now it is mine to give to whomever I wish. I could imagine no one who would wear it with such elegance." Winter indulged her wish to smile at her sister. "Do let your hair down so I can put it on for you."

She struggle to keep from gasping as her sister's long, silky white hair fell and fell and _fell_, nearly reaching the floor before it had reached its full length. "Maidens, Weiss, I think it long enough to get the point across, no?"

"Well," Weiss brushed a lock of hair nervously with her fingers. "I like it long."

"Good luck keeping it clean in the field."

"I had the best possible teacher to show me how."

Winter could merely sigh as she began to work the tiara into her sister's hair. A rare playful mood struck her and she deliberately styled Weiss's ponytail to the left, giving her a youthful, irreverent touch. "There," she said, stepping back to let her sister admire herself in the mirror.

"Pretty as a princess."

[/]

_Now_

Weiss stared at the ruins of her tiara, her mirror, her hair. Something inside of her shattered just like the mirror, bursting into a thousand, thousand pieces. She heard screaming, and it took her a moment to realize that it was her. A glyph formed on the floor, and soon, the full, icy spectre of her Arma Gigas stood between her and the man that had once called himself her father. The summon rested the point of its massive sword on against the floor.

"_Leave me alone!"_

Weiss practically roared at Jacques, a scream of pain, betrayal, and sheer outrage. Jacques turned and fled. Weiss didn't know how long she stayed there, staring at what Jacques had torn from her, but eventually, she heard a man calling to her. She finally looked up to see that Klein had braved the Arma Gigas, and was rocking her in his arms, the way he had when she was young.

"Klein," she wailed into his shoulder.

"It's all right, young mistress. Everything is going to be all right."

She sniffled, then looked to the butler that had helped raise her. "Klein, I need to leave."

"It isn't safe for me here."

**[/]**

**Chapter Endnote:**

**If you are transgender and in need of assistance, whether it is educational information, legal aid, or suicide prevention, call Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860 (United States) or 877-330-6366 (Canada).**

**Maker's breath, this chapter was hard to research. As bad as the treatment described here was, people in our own world have subjected their own trans kids to much, much worse. Beatings. Electroshock torture. "Corrective" rape. Outright murder. The most common is simple abandonment, which is why a disproportionate amount of homeless children and teenagers are non-gender conforming. Many of these homeless trans youths are forced to turn to crime and/or sex work to survive, further increasing their exposure to violence and STI's.**

**I need a drink.**

**The incident with the razor is a true story, by the way.**

**Not sure how people will feel about the flashback structure of this chapter. I thought it would be artistically satisfying to contrast Jacques' abuse with the love and support of Weiss's true family, especially Winter. I deliberately toned down Winter's physical admonishment of her sister and turned up the emotional connection, to reflect that, due to Weiss's circumstances, Winter knows that her sister is in for some harsh times, and will need all the love she can get.**

**I'm sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out. I had some job and relocation issues to sort out, and this is just a hobby for me. Also, I put out a one-shot about Jaune calling out his father and learning how to fight like an Arc last month; it was my first attempt at writing action. Metrics say that not a lot of people read it, so check it out on my author page if you feel like. It's titled "The Knight's Code". **

**See you all in the next chapter!**

**-Mahina **


	5. The Renegade Princess

**Author's Note: Welcome back to "the worst fic in RWBY fandom!" Honestly, I'm not even mad at that one. Do you have any idea how many stories there are out there, not just on this site, but in the whole of RWBY fandom? And my lil' ole fic is the worst of all? That feels more like an accomplishment than anything else, really. Hooray significance!**

**Content Warning: Threats of sexual assault, lethal violence, villainous villains acting villainously. Rating has been changed to 'M' to reflect new content.**

**[/]**

Ruby Rose watched from her window as the snow began to fall on the island of Patch. Her sister rarely spoke anymore, preferring to brood alone in her room. Their father made a valiant effort to provide the emotional support that his daughters needed, but he was only one man, struggling to keep them all afloat. Ruby's expression fell as she thought of how badly her plan would hurt him. Taiyang just wouldn't understand, but she had to do this. For Pyrrha. For her friends. For Beacon, and for the world.

Ruby could only hope that her family would be okay, in time.

Her Scroll buzzed. Jaune, Ren and Nora would be here soon. She gently placed a farewell note onto her bed, and hefted her pack. Resting inside, in a small wooden box, the bronze objects that Uncle Qrow had recovered weighed heavy on her heart.

It was time to go.

[/]

The teenagers left Patch quickly, finding passage on a freight vessel headed to Anima. Their trek would be a long one, much longer than if they had simply taken an airship to Mistral directly, but even with the CCNet down, with so few airships flying these days, tracking them down would have been trivially easy.

The four of them shared a small, cramped cabin, but that was okay. The time for Jaune's fits, Nora's hysterical weeping, and Ren's terse, sullen silences had passed, and they needed the closeness now, to come together and heal as a family.

Ruby had felt out of place, almost as if she were intruding, but the remnants of Team JNPR had none of that the first time she let slip how she felt. "Pyrrha was your friend too," Jaune had told her. "And you're ours. Besides, Pyrrha would _kick _our butts if we pushed out 'Little Ruby' to deal with this on your own."

She gave a little chuckle as she wiped the moisture from her eye with the heel of one hand. "I'm _not_ little," she said by reflex. She couldn't count the number of times her taller friends had gently teased her about her age and her height, especially Jaune, who practically towered over her. "Us shorties have to stick together!" She held out a hand for a low-five, only to realize too late that Weiss wasn't there with her.

Her face fell. Nora tried to fill the void, giving her an enthusiastic hand-slap, but it just wasn't the same. "I'm sorry," Ruby said, her eyes downcast.

"Hey, it's okay. I miss them too." Jaune put his hand on her shoulder.

"She would have stayed with you if she could," Ruby told him, not needing to specify to which _she_ she referred. "She was thinking of you the whole time. I'm sure she still is now. But she had to choose, and she chose to keep everyone safe."

Jaune's smile was sad, but accepting. "Of course she did. Weiss is a Huntress."

"Speaking of which, I have something for you." Ruby rifled through her pack until she found the box containing Pyrrha's effects. "Uncle Qrow found these at the tower. I… I know Pyrrha would have wanted you to have them."

Jaune opened the box and nearly dropped it as he saw the Mistrali Bronze of Pyrrha's weapons. Her shield had been broken, her javelin sword splintered, and her circlet had the remains of scorch marks that Ruby hadn't quite been able to fully remove. His hands shook as he pulled put the dagger that he and Ruby had made for her. As he inspected it, Ruby was transported back to that awful, awful night.

[/]

_Then_

Weiss had sent her to the top of the tower with her glyphs. Her partner had nearly fainted from exhaustion, but Ruby couldn't focus on that, as she arrived on the scene to see Pyrrha fighting for her life. Ruby had called out to Pyrrha, distracting Cinder long enough for the champion to land vicious slashes onto her face with the fighting dirk that she and Jaune had made for her. Cinder shrieked as Pyrrha cut one of her eyes from her head, and then _exploded_ in a furious display of power, a power that Ruby had no idea that she, or anyone, could be capable of manifesting. Pyrrha had been sent flying away to crash heavily on the floor.

Ruby shrunk back as Cinder stalked towards her, blood streaming from the x-shaped cuts on her face and from the ruin of her eye. A fiery corona burned around her remaining eye, which practically bulged in insane fury. Cinder Fall looked like a demon as she snarled in a rictus grin, lips peeling back from her teeth. The madwoman flash-forged a javelin in her hand. She raised it to throw, and as it hurtled through the air at her, Ruby knew that she was going to die.

The impact never came.

Pyrrha had interposed herself between Ruby and the spear, which punched into her chest and out of her back. As Ruby watched on in shock and horror, the older girl fell to her knees. Her head fell forward, and Pyrrha Nikos died.

Her body flashed with inner light, and she incinerated from the inside, breaking into ashes that drifting onto the wind.

Tears fell from Ruby's eyes. She had come to help Pyrrha, to _save_ her, and she had been worse than no help at all as Pyrrha Nikos had just straight-up laid down her life to save hers.

Pyrrha Nikos was a hero.

Heroes… _die_.

Ruby howled as a power surged through her, and her world was consumed under the stark glare of the white light pouring from her eyes… her silver eyes…

[/]

_Now_

"I'm sorry."

Ruby's throat clenched as she saw Jaune looking at the dagger. "Huh?" He looked over at her, concerned. "What's wrong?"

"You… you trusted me to go help her, and instead… I'm the reason that she's dead. It's my fault. I froze, and Cinder came at me, and… she should be here, not me."

Jaune slowly slid the dagger back into its sheath and he stood before Ruby. She expected him to yell at her, to blame her, even to tell her to get out, to go home, to leave them alone.

He embraced her, hugging her tightly. "It's not your fault," he said. "The only one to blame is Cinder." _And Ozpin,_ he added mentally. _And myself._

She felt Nora rest her head on her shoulder, and Ren lay a hand on her arm. There, in a cramped little cabin, on a freighter of dubious construction chugging its way across the sea, Ruby wept. She cried for her friend, who had saved her life at the expense of her own. She cried for her sister, maimed and alone. She cried for her partner, who had been torn away from them. She cried for the friends left behind, who had set out alongside her despite their own grief. And she cried for the little girl who had once believed in heroes and happily ever afters.

[/]

Weiss was not safe. If the attack from her own father hadn't made that abundantly clear, the sheer number of heavily-armed guards stationed outside her door had done the trick quite nicely. She crept close to the door as she heard two of them speaking; Weiss had never been the stealth natural that Blake was, but moving relatively quietly wasn't so hard. Reluctantly, she admitted that her heels might have complicated the matter, had she still had them. Ruby must never know.

She leaned close to hear the mercenaries speaking. "All I'm saying," one rambled, "is that, if we're going to go and take out a Schnee kid, we should at least get to have a bit of fun with her, first."

"Shut the fuck up, Crimson," the other merc said. "We've got our orders. Quick, quiet, shot to the back of the head, burn the body." Well, that confirmed that they weren't there to bring her her evening tea. "Besides, that's a damn boy pretending to be a girl."

"Where there's a hole, there's a way, am I right?" Weiss's skin crawled as the first man, Crimson apparently, chuckled. "Hold it face down, you won't even tell the difference. Besides, you seen what it's wearing? Boy or not, that's some primo ass right there. It'd probably get off on it too. Looks like it never got a good plowing its entire life. When you think about it, it's an act of mercy."

"Yeah, you're a real fuckin' saint, Crim."

"C'mon, Gray, Captain, this ain't no fuckin' Faunus trash bobbin' on your knob we're talking about. How many people says they banged a Schnee? This one's almost as hot as the older one. Hell, I'd buy a whole 'nother belt to notch that one."

"... I'll give you fifteen seconds to try and subdue the target. If it's still up and fighting after then, we go lethal. And you take point."

"You're an officer and a gentleman, Gray. You want a go? After me, of course. I'm gonna pop that little asshole like champagne." The mercenary made a lewd popping sound with his mouth, to the laughter of some of the other men.

"No."

"I'll get in on this," a third voice spoke up.

"All right, now we're talkin'. So, you help me hold it down…"

Weiss had known that she would need to fight her way out of Schnee Manor, but she had struggled with her conscience as to what degree of force she would employ. Now, after listening to these men so cavalierly discussing her impending rape and murder? Weiss felt no qualms as she quietly, but quickly, set about preparing for their invasion.

She had more Dust in her room than she could possibly carry with her, and thanks to her partner, she knew exactly how to set it off. The first order of business was setting up a tripwire in front of the door, rigged with fire Dust and metal fittings pried from the furniture in the room to create homemade fragmentation grenades. She hid ice Dust canisters in the curtains over the window, as that would be her way out, and the ice would hold them back while she made her escape. The last canisters of Dust she had, she kept on her person, both to use as throwing grenades, and… as a last resort. Anyone thinking that they would have their way with her would _pay_.

With her preparations complete, she retreated to the corner of the room furthest from the door and drew Myrtenaster, the slender blade having been honed to absolute perfection. Weiss heard the sounds of heavy boots stomping up the stairs and gathering in the second floor hallway. Between the first wave of SDC security and these reinforcements, she estimated that there were something close to fifty men waiting outside her door, most of whom would have some ability with Aura.

If she weren't so terrified, she would have been flattered that they felt it would take so many to bring her down. Weiss took in a deep breath, her eyes, closed for a moment while she heard them prepare to batter down the door. With a heavy crack, the thick wood door gave way. Weiss opened her eyes, as calm and impassive as a glacier. With a flick of her blade, her glyphs sent the flash-bang grenades the mercenaries threw in back into their ranks. Their helmets filtered out the flash, but it was the thought that counted. Sure enough, the first man rushed through the ruins of the door, Crimson, she presumed, only to snap the tripwire and get a face full of exploding Dust.

A miniature Great War erupted in Schnee Manor.

Whatever it was that they had been expecting, probably a frightened teenager, they sure hadn't been expecting fire and violence. Weiss took advantage of her momentum, and the enemy's grouped formation, by triggering a cyclonic cone with the wind Dust in her rapier. By tossing a jar of fire Dust into it, she created a literal firestorm, sweeping it from side to side, burning the mercenaries. Those without Aura quickly fell back, while those that had it did their best to shield themselves from the onslaught.

As the flaming cyclone died down, Weiss saw part of the stairwell catch fire. It and the doorway were ablaze, but the rooms were so large, and the building made with so much marble and stone, that it seemed unlikely that the whole building would catch fire.

Pity.

With the enemy on its collective heels, Weiss lashed out. Myrtenaster's tip found purchase in between the chest plates of an enemy, and he fell to the ground with a deep puncture wound. A second man was protected by Aura, so she elegantly spun into a powerful kick that sent the man sprawling over the banister. As the third man she attacked slid limply off her sword, she heard the telltale whirring sound of minigun rifles preparing to fire.

A glyph sent her rocketing back through the room and out the window, dropping strings holding ice Dust canisters. The first bullets hit the canisters, and a massive ice crystal erupted from the roof and upper walls of Schnee Manor. Weiss used her gravity glyphs to slow her descent to the ground, eventually landing in the garden. She began sizing up the wall and preparing to jump it when she heard a small gasp.

Willow Schnee stared at her. "Winter?" Her mother looked so much like Winter that it hurt, but for all of that familiarity, she still felt almost a stranger to Weiss.

Weiss found it hard to speak. "No, mother. It's Weiss."

"_Weiss?_" Her mother's voice was soft and wondering. She looked at the manor and back to Weiss, putting two and two together. "Your father?"

"He was displeased to find he actually had _two_ daughters and only the one son."

Willow's mouth flattened into a hard line as she nodded to her daughter. "Right. Wait in the rose bushes. I'll lead them away from you so you can get away."

"Mother, these men are extremely dangerous."

"Weiss…" Willow reached out and put her hand on her daughter's cheek. "I haven't been there for you. For any of you. Let me be here for you now."

Reluctantly, Weiss nodded and hid in the bushes. Her mother mouthed "I love you," as a squad of SDC mercenaries approached, one of whom bearing scorched armor. That one had taken his helmet off, revealing bright red hair. As Weiss looked on, Willow began to act as though she were inebriated, swaying slightly and slurring her words.

"Oh, I'm _so _glad to see you boys! Is it that awful White Fang again? You boys will keep me safe, won't you?"

The burned man turned to one the others. "That's the wrong Schnee, genius." He looked at Willow. "Name's Cap'n Crimson, ma'am."

"I thought Captain Gray was in charge?"

"Yeah, he just got ganked, so I'm up. Don't worry, we'll take good care of you. Come with us."

Willow followed the other mercenaries. As she passed Crimson, Weiss saw him draw a sidearm and casually put a round through her mother's head. Willow crumpled to the ground without a sound.

Weiss wanted to scream. She wanted to draw Myrtenaster and kill him, kill them all. But more of them were regrouping on the far end of the courtyard, and if she gave in to her impulse, she would throw away the best chance she had to make a clean escape.

Her mother would have just died for nothing.

"The hell was that for?!" Another mercenary asked, shocked and panicked.

"Bossman's orders. Take her out, we blame it on the Fang. He's just cleaning house today, I guess."

"Sheesh, you coulda said something."

"Whatever." Crimson leaned down and grabbed Willow's ankle, dragging her body behind him. "It's just my luck we couldn't have fun with this one either. We need to find the smaller one before it gets away… damn it, one way or another, I'm getting my hot little Schnee ass."

Weiss slowly wiped her tears away as they walked off, treating her mother's body like so much garbage. Someday, somehow, she _would_ kill that man.

She leapt the wall and stole into the cold Atlas night.

[/]

"What do you think they're up to?"

"Huh?"

Jaune looked across the campfire, where Ruby sat. They'd been on the road for a few months now. The road was wearying, but more rewarding than he could have anticipated. He was growing and progressing rapidly, and he knew that his friends would be doing the same.

"You know," Ruby began. "Blake, Weiss, Yang…"

"Well, your sister is probably conspiring with your dad to ground you for the rest of forever," Jaune began, earning a rueful smile from his friend. "Sun ran after Blake, so I guess that she's doing something completely insane and reckless, while Sun is half-chasing her and half being dragged along behind her. Weiss…" he paused, his gaze soft and wistful. "I know it doesn't make any sense. It's probably wishful thinking on my part. But I can't help but have this feeling that she's on her way to find us again."

"Maybe she's with her sister," Ruby offered. "Having super-cool Huntress adventures, building up anticipation for when she can drag her boyfriend off somewhere private…" she finished that last part with an exaggerated wink his direction.

Jaune rolled his eyes. He didn't answer, opting instead to pull out Pyrrha's dagger. He spun it idly, watching the firelight glint off of the bronze. Eventually he sighed. "She never got around to naming it, you know. The dagger, I mean."

"Its name is Griever," Ruby answered, her voice soft and distant. "It wasn't before, but it is now. You'll need it someday," she told him.

"That day being tomorrow, I'm sure" Jaune said. With Crocea Mors undergoing repairs and modifications back at the village they'd left, that dagger was the only weapon he had on him as they embarked on a dangerous Geist hunt.

"Jaune?"

"Hm?"

"You need to keep yourself in one piece," Ruby said. "Weiss will kick my booty if something happens to you on my watch."

Jaune chuckled. "You'll be fine. Can you imagine Weiss seriously hurting someone?"

[/]

Weiss watched in cold satisfaction as the SDC storehouse in Mantle burned, sending the survivors of the hit squad scrambling in all directions. One would think that hired muscle working on long-term contract for the biggest Dust conglomerate in the world would have a bit more clue about the perils of fighting in close proximity to Dust. Oh well. Sucks to be them, as Yang would have put it.

She pulled up her hood to obscure her white hair as she blended into the denizens of the old city of Mantle. Some weeks past, she had found a Pumpkin Pete hooded sweatshirt hanging on a line, and, though it was gray and not black, she couldn't resist swiping it. It was warm and comforting, just like Jaune. She missed him terribly, but a part of her was glad he hadn't been here to see this. She had committed arson, _lots_ of it, acts of sabotage, and she'd killed quite a few of the mercenaries that had pursued her. If it wasn't for the fact that they had attacked her, and continued to hound after her, she would despair of being worthy to hold such a sweet and gentle, loving man in her arms again.

This latest hit squad had been pursuing her for a week. Weiss had had to play a long game, luring them into a Dust warehouse by feigning an attempt to rob it. She'd used her summon as a decoy, even dressing it in a skirt and blouse, and when they took the bait, she had it trigger an explosion that set off a chain reaction. As such, the warehouse went up like kindling, and a fair number of mercs went up with it.

Her father had apparently gone with the pretense that the White Fang had attacked Schnee Manor, killing his wife and eldest "son." In the meantime, the pressure from the SDC squads had been unrelenting. The pushback against the Faunus due to the supposed White Fang activity kicked up actual White Fang activity, which Weiss was able to use to obscure her own movements. She knew that, despite her rather extreme case of being disowned, the White Fang would still see her as a high-priority target, so setting the two factions that wanted her dead against each other helped keep her alive.

Her plan, as such, was simple. She needed allies. There was no telling where Winter or Blake were, but Ruby and Yang lived on Patch, with their father, a veteran Huntsman. If they were still recuperating, Weiss knew that Jaune would prioritize remaining with what friends he could locate, and where he led, Ren and Nora would follow. Add to that the fact that Sir Qrow would remain close to his family at such a time, and Patch island seemed the safest place for her to regroup and eventually launch a counterattack.

Weiss hated to involve her friends in this, but she had no choice.

With that grim thought in mind, she made for the docks. There weren't any ships leaving to Patch directly, but there was one headed for Argus. From there, she could travel overland to Mistral, and from there, Patch. It would be a long journey, but one well-worth the arduous travel if it brought her back to her friends.

The irony of her situation was not lost on her. She was about to stowaway on a ship. A part of her actually wished she would run into Sun Wukong in the cargo hold. He may have been the wrong blonde lunk, but the presence of any familiar face that didn't want to kill or otherwise… _abuse_ her would be very welcome right about now.

Weiss had almost made it to the docks when she heard a distorted voice call out "freeze!" She bolted as SDC mercenaries gave chase, leaping over railings and rolling back to her feet to continue her flight. She rounded a corner and saw several burly Faunus dockworkers staring at her. "Look out!" she called as she darted past them. Their leader, an older, heavyset man who had a second pair of dog's ears on his head called out to her.

"Girl!"

She turned and winced as she saw his face. One of his dog ears had been badly mangled, and the letters SDC had been branded into his skin over the seared remains of one eye. Her hand went to her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Hey. You. They after you?"

Weiss nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

"Me an' the boys will keep 'em off for as long as we can."

"But I'm-" Weiss couldn't bring herself to say _a Schnee_, not to someone who had her name burned into his flesh.

"A human?" The Faunus waved her off. "You're still just a kid. And you must've pissed 'em off something fierce, to send these thugs after you. I like that. Go on girl."

Weiss stared at him for a moment, before she turned and fled once more. She heard shouting, and then gunfire behind her. She couldn't bring herself to look back.

Sitting in the cargo hold as the ship was underway, Weiss had no respite from her shame. People had died for her. For _her_. As a Huntress, Weiss was supposed to protect people, but instead, it had been the other way around. One of those people had been her own mother. Her mother, an absent figure that Weiss had known only in the abstract, had told her that she loved her and risked herself to give her daughter a chance to escape. Some random Faunus dockworkers - she didn't even know their names - had thrown themselves into the line of fire for her, and they never knew that they had done so for a _Schnee_.

Ironically, she found herself wishing that she could have actually taken Jacques' deal. Snow's name wasn't _burned_ onto people. Knowing her father, that little detail was probably some sick joke about corporate branding. The man could only find joy when he was dominating or crushing someone else. Snow didn't have a father who went through considerable effort to see her dead.

But as easier as it might have been for her personally, Weiss knew that it was only the things she had seen and experienced that had shown her the truth. She had been deluded before, thinking that she could _reform_ the SDC. By the time a business enterprise was mutilating people and sending death squads out in the night, the time when reform was possible had long since passed. For the sake of people around the world, the Schnee Dust Company needed to be destroyed. A true Schnee had created the SDC, and a true Schnee would take it down.

[/]

Winter slipped through the halls of Schnee Manor, a focused blade of fury. She crept into the family wing, and saw the ruined devastation of Weiss's old room. Her mirror and window were shattered, the ceiling and one wall had been largely destroyed, and scorch marks lined what structures still stood. Whatever happened here, it had been violent, and her baby sister had not gone quietly.

Leaving the ruined chamber behind her, Winter made her way to the servants' quarters. In the largest room, she found the family's oldest butler. Klein stared at her before breaking down in tears.

"I'm so sorry mistress Schnee. I couldn't keep her safe!"

"Klein. I need you to tell me what happened."

The old man looked heartbroken. "You were right about your father. He took one look at your sister and practically went mad. Whatever he and your sister had to say to one another, he snapped. Went after her himself with broken glass, he did. Cut the most of her hair off with the ponytail, then apparently, the young mistress fought back. I heard shouting, and when I get up to her room, there's a great knight made of ice standing guard o'er her!"

Winter smiled briefly. It looked like her sister had finally grasped her Semblance. She just wished it had been under better circumstances. Oh Weiss…

"Don't know why the thing let me past, but it did," Klein continued. "Found the young mistress staring at her hair on the floor, looking like she'd seen a ghost. I held her close, and she says to me 'I can't stay here, Klein. It isn't safe for me here.' She was right about that. Your father, he took young master Whitley and he left. 'Undisclosed location' he says. Sent his men after Weiss - his own daughter, his flesh and blood! I'm sorry to say they locked me in this room, so I couldn't help her. But you'll be proud to hear she acquitted herself as a right Huntress. From what I heard, she set a trap for them, improvised Dust explosives."

Winter nodded. Sister had made good use of the resources at hand.

"She gives them a bloody nose, she does, and goes flying out the window, setting one more Dust bomb as she goes. Almost brought the whole thing down on them, too. A few of them start looking through the courtyard, and your mother, she sees Weiss, and leads them away from her. Saw it from my window. Then one of them pulls out a gun, and… and…"

"It's okay." Winter put her hand on Klein's shoulder. She couldn't really blame him for any of this. He was quite elderly, and a civilian to boot. If you needed a smart outfit picked out for a social engagement, Klein was your man, but fighting hardened killers was a bit beyond the poor man.

Winter still wasn't sure how she felt about her mother's death. In a way, she had mourned for her mother as a young teenager, and this was more a final closure to a loss that had happened long ago. To be quite honest, she considered _herself_ to be more Weiss's mother than Willow Schnee had ever been… but in the end, Willow had done right by Weiss and paid for it with her life. For that, she deserved to be remembered well.

"They… they killed the mistress Schnee. But your sister! Young Weiss got away! Hopped fifteen feet right over the wall, she did. From what I've heard around the house, she's been leading them on a grand chase, slipping away and socking it to them. They're operating out of an office on the security wing."

"Thank you, Klein. It's good to know that Weiss is alive out there." She patted him on the shoulder. "Keep your head down and stay safe, old man. I will set things aright shortly."

In the security office, she found a terminal detailing the company's security contractor operations. She found the log of one Captain Gray which, alongside numerous other atrocities, contained the death orders for Weiss and Willow Schnee. Upon his predecessor's death - while Winter's heart ached at the thought of her sweet little sister taking life, she was also proud at the sheer numbers she had racked up - one Captain Crimson outlined the ongoing hunt for Weiss. She had last been spotted at the Mantle docks. The most probable destination was Argus, and from there, Mistral.

Crimson was also quite vocal about his intent to violently rape her little sister, setting standing orders demanding that he get her first.

Winter downloaded the files, important evidence to help bring down her father if a court demanded. Then, with a calm born of years of professional military training, Winter drew her saber and dagger. This Crimson was a _dead man_. But first, every one of her father's thugs that she killed here was one more that couldn't be sent after Weiss.

There were precious few occasions, in Winter's professional experience, where the tactical move was also the cathartic one, one of those happy moments where performing a duty was also a pleasure.

Death stalked Schnee Manor.

[/]

Weiss departed the ship and left Argus within hours. She didn't dare book passage on the Argus Limited, trainhopping in freight cars where she could and hiking cross-country when she couldn't, hoping that the timing changes would throw off pursuit. One cold night, she found refuge in a cave, though she did check it beforehand for any carvings that might indicate, say, a giant Deathstalker in residence. She pulled brush in front of the cave entrance, obscuring it from view, and set a tripwire and noisemaker inside the entrance. Only then did she dare start a fire.

She warmed her hands and then took out a ration bar. Weiss was exhausted. She had managed to take out a Nevermore on her own, though she'd needed to summon the Arma Gigas at the right time to do it. Still, she felt a flush of triumph as she ate. Not only had she singlehandedly taken out a Grimm that had required her entire team to slay at initiation, but she now had a flying summon at her command!

Weiss knew that summoning a Nevermore and simply flying to Mistral, no matter how tempting an idea it might be, would be a great way to get shot down, either by her pursuers, or by the Mistral defense forces. It wouldn't be worth the risk, especially since she was only a few days' travel on foot from Mistral, by her estimation. There, she could disappear into the crowd, much as she had in Mantle, and earn a few days' recuperation and resupply before the home stretch to Patch.

She wondered how they were doing. Ruby simply _had_ to have awoken by now, Weiss simply refused to believe that her coma would be permanent. General Ironwood probably would have sent over a Huntress-class prosthetic for Yang, and while she would have been moody for a while, she would eventually have recovered mentally as well as physically. Maybe Blake had come back to them, sheepishly admitting her mistake as Sun dragged her back home by her ears. Ren and Nora would be there too. Maybe Nora had finally made her move on her man; literally no one had believed that those two would wind up as anything other than a devoted, loving couple.

And Jaune would be there, saddened by the loss of his partner, but still strong, more resolute than ever. She would find him, and when she was in his arms once more, she would finally be _safe_.

With that fantasy keeping her warm, Weiss allowed herself the respite of slumber.

[/]

Qrow Branwen looked out over the city of Mistral. This whole day was a friggin' bust. Dozens of Huntsmen, and all of them were gone, dropped off the face of the world like they'd never existed to begin with. The life of the Huntsman was tough, no one denied that, but there was no way that literally everyone he knew in Mistral, save for Leo himself, would have all gone missing at once without something being up.

His reverie was interrupted by the familiar sight of Winter Schnee's personal airship coming in to dock nearby. Well, if nothing else, he could bring Short-stack's little friend by for a playdate, maybe even get her and her sister to stick around long enough to help them out finding the Spring Maiden. With his friggin' luck, it wasn't like he was spoiled for choice here.

He trotted over to the airship dock, and after a moment, Winter Schnee emerged from the loading ramp. She looked rough, stressed even. Worse, she was alone. She walked up to him. "Qrow, I need your help," she said without preamble.

"Well, that's funny. I need yours too. You drop Princess Snowflake off at daycare or something?"

Winter pressed her Scroll into his hands. "Read this," she told him. "I believe she's on foot, somewhere north of Mistral. I don't know how you scout so well, but I… I _need_ you, Qrow."

He scrolled through the file opened on the screen. Looked like an officer's log. What did this have to do with…

Ah.

Oh.

Oh shit.

Let the record show that Qrow Branwen, no matter what his sister said, was _not_ "soft." He was motivated purely by his oath as a professional Huntsman, and a pragmatic need for more allies. He wasn't motivated by any fondness for his niece's silly little friend, or by keeping said niece from being further devastated by hearing that something awful had happened to her. Qrow certainly wasn't moved by the beautiful woman with the huge ice blue eyes pleading for his help, or the way that her obvious devotion to the sister that she had raised like a daughter aligned with his own sympathies as a dedicated family man.

Nope. None of that factored in at all. Honest.

"We'll need to pick up the kids. Ruby and her friends. They're all the backup I have out here, which is why-"

"Help me, and I'll assist you in your mission," Winter said.

"You don't even know what it is yet."

"Doesn't matter."

Qrow nodded. "Fair enough." He turned and gestured her to follow, when he heard the sound of one of Raven's portals opening, a sound that was unique in this world. He held out a hand to keep Winter from drawing her sword. "Raven?"

He had seen a lot today, and had been expecting pretty much anything. But even he hadn't been expecting to see a royally pissed-off Yang Xiao Long drive through one of her mother's portals on her motorcycle.

"Well," he said to Winter, "The odds are getting better."

[/]

Weiss fought as she ran. She ran as she fought. Her father's men pursued her through the forest, relentless in the chase. Weiss had set traps to slow them down and soften them up, but she was running low on Dust, and there was only so much she could do with the time and materials she had at hand. She had doubled back to spring ambushes of her own on small groups that scouted ahead of the main platoon, whittling down their numbers.

It wasn't enough.

She was exhausted, low on Aura, and bleeding from minor wounds. She staggered into a clearing, barely making it to the other side. Weiss stopped as she eyed the forest beyond. One way or another, she could go no further today.

She could hear the sound of an engine somewhere nearby. It figured that they had motor transport.

The first of the mercenaries cautiously entered the clearing across from her. If nothing else, she had taught them to be wary of her, had forced them to pay in blood for their pursuit. She saw Crimson at the forefront, and her gaze narrowed into a deadly squint.

_Whatever else happens_, she thought, _he dies today._

They may have run her down by persistence hunting, bringing her to bay like an animal, but as rifles were brought to bear and barrels began to spin, Weiss stood tall and proud, drawing her sword and screaming her defiance. She would show them how a Huntress died.

The roar of the engine grew louder, and as the men opened fire on her, a human form interposed itself between the bullets and her body, rounds pinging off of a shield. Her rescuer was tall, so tall, standing before her golden and beautiful in the morning light.

"Jaune?"

"Stay back, Weiss," he said. "We've got you."

"We?"

"Weeeeeeeeiss!" A cloud of roses burst into the form of Ruby Rose, who stood next to Jaune and hefted her one-of-a-kind scythe rifle. "We'll keep you safe, Weiss!"

"Can't keep us out of this fight!" Nora Valkyrie bounded into view, grenade launcher at the ready. Ren padded next to her like a cat, coiled and ready to spring. "Team RNJR, at your service," he said quietly.

"Team RNJR?"

"Yeah, it's what they've been calling themselves lately. You let Ruby go on her own and she just goes off starting new teams." Yang strode up to her, cracking her remaining knuckles with her bionic hand.

"Yang!"

"That's the name, don't wear it out!"

"Are… are you real?" Weiss figured that the stress and terror of her imminent death had caused her mind to snap. If she was hallucinating, at least it was better than experiencing her grisly end firsthand, and she eagerly looked around to see if Blake and Pyrrha would show up too.

"Yeah, we're real, Princess." Qrow dropped down from some elevated position, greatsword at the ready.

"So," Jaune called out to Crimson. "You want to tell us what your deal is? What do you want with Weiss?"

The mercenary leader pretended to think for a second. "Well gee, kid, since you asked, I kinda figured I was gonna put her head on a spike after I _fuck her asshole bloody!"_

A shocked hush fell over her friends. Even Qrow seemed stunned. The silence was broken by the whirring of a mecha-shifting mechanism as Jaune transformed his weapon into a bastard sword, which he held at a ready guard.

"Yeah, he's like that," Weiss muttered.

Jaune gave orders with a deadly seriousness. "Nora, open with grenades, then you and Ren charge center. Ruby, left, Yang, right. Qrow, guard Weiss."

"You sure, kid? I'm the strongest-"

"_Guard. Weiss."_ Jaune's tone brokered no argument.

"Yeah, sure thing kid."

With that, Jaune charged Crimson, intent on _ending_ the sadist. A second later, the other teenagers sprung into action, carrying out his orders. Weiss couldn't believe just how far Jaune had come since she had seen him last. He was assured and confident, and was currently battering a veteran mercenary, a hardened, cold-eyed killer with a rifle and bayonet, with heavy, devastating blows.

The mercenary troops had been a deadly threat to a single, exhausted, fugitive Huntress. But against five fresh and angry Hunters, they melted before the onslaught. Weiss noted that her friends were still fighting to subdue, not kill. Soon, they fell away, whoever was left standing fleeing into the forest.

With a roar of outrage, Jaune slammed Crocea Mors down onto his enemy. Crimson tried to block the strike with an upraised rifle, only for the shining bronze edge of Jaune's sword to cut the lesser weapon in half. Jaune sent his boot into Crimson's chest, a heavy thrust kick that sent the mercenary sprawling to the ground. The sadistic mercenary tried to rise again, only to find Crocea Mors at his face.

"Do you think you've won?" he spat. "I have more men coming. Start running now, and you might just make it back to Mistral."

"I wouldn't count on that." Winter Schnee stalked into the clearing, arriving from the direction that the defeated mercs had fled. The blood dripping from her saber made clear what sort of 'delay' those troopers had experienced. "Thank you for your assistance, mister Arc. Would you be so kind as to gather your friends and see to my sister?"

Jaune nodded, sparing one last look at Crimson before walking off. His friends had gathered around Weiss, who still had trouble accepting that this was really happening. As he approached, she fell into his arms. "_Jaune_," she wailed, clinging tightly to him. She breathed in his scent, felt him strong and firm in her arms, and finally, her mind accepted that she was finally safe.

He felt the tiny girl in his arms tremble and shake as she began to sob. Jaune stroked her hair - it was a lot shorter than the last time he had seen her, cut to a bob like Ruby's - and murmured what he hoped were comforting words to her. He looked up, over and beyond Weiss, and saw that Winter and Qrow had finished their interrogation of the mercenary captain. With a flash of a silvery blade, Winter severed the man's head from his neck. Despite the violence, Jaune found that he couldn't blame her one bit.

Weiss swayed and nearly fell, supported only by the man she was holding on to. Jaune scooped her up to carry her bridal style. She had always been small, but Jaune was alarmed and frightened by just how light and fragile she seemed in his arms. "Don't let me go," she plead, her voice barely more than a whisper as she succumbed to her exhaustion and passed out in his arms.

"I won't," he told her, kissing her softly on the forehead. He held her close to his chest, as if the wind would carry her away if he did not. She was the most precious treasure in the world to him.

"I promise."

**[/]**

**Chapter Endnotes: Well, that escalated quickly. So, Weiss and Winter are now locked in what is effectively open warfare against their father, and Winter is along for the ride with the rest of our heroes. This new Weiss plot will be interwoven with the canon plotline, inasmuch as either makes sense. Some events from canon will go the same, some not, and some will happen kind of the same, but off.**

**This chapter is about as dark as this story is going to get. I probably could have toned down the villainous OC that I made and kept things rated teen, but I chose not to for two reasons; firstly, when you think of the sort of muscle that a conglomerate like the SDC would use to brand people, suppress striking miners, and maybe burn down Faunus villages, the term "death squad" comes to mind. As the name might suggest, death squads are typically not staffed by people burdened with an abundance of moral character.**

**The second reason I chose to up the rating of this story to mature is because I have decided to write at least one sex scene between Weiss and Jaune for this story. It probably won't be next** **chapter, but it's going to happen at some point in the story, so heads-up on that. There's also going to be an exploration of Weiss's relationship with her body, her entire body, so even if I had toned down Crimson and decided not to do a sex scene, I feel as though the M rating would still be more appropriate to the story and give me the freedom to explore it more openly.**

**If any of the above is an insurmountable obstacle to you, than I thank you for having read this far. For everyone else, I invite you to the next chapter, "The Mirror, pt. II." **

**-Mahina **


	6. The Mirror, pt II

**Author's Note: Thanks to Elderfire1 for the new cover art! Also, I received a lot of positive and constructive feedback after the last chapter. I love it. I even heard from one new couple where a man worked up the nerve to finally ask out his longtime transgender lady friend after reading my story! Good luck to the happy couple! It's hearing things like that that make writing all worthwhile.**

**Content warning: sexual situations, frank discussion of squishy bits. **

**[/]**

_If nothing else_, Winter mused, _Weiss's little boyfriend makes a passable beast of burden._

Jaune had scooped up Weiss into his arms, bridal style, and carried her back to Winter's airship. The interior was clean and stark, though upon leading Jaune to a small medbay, the Atlesian Specialist opted to dim the lights in the room just a bit. Jaune carefully lowered the unconscious young woman onto the infirmary's sole bed. He frowned as he smoothed her hair, picking the occasional twig or leaf that had entangled in it. She must have tumbled through a bush or tree at some point in her desperate flight through the forest.

"Is she going to be okay?"

Winter ran a quick Huntress diagnostic over her little sister. Nothing appeared broken, no open wounds, or obvious signs of infection. "She most likely is simply in need of rest." She hooked up Weiss's arm to an IV bag. "And hydration as well," added Winter. "I need to set our course back to Mistral. Stay here, and inform me immediately if she wakes."

"Right."

She reminded herself to keep from scowling as she saw the young man take her sister's hand. Winter put her thoughts and feelings in order as she strode towards the bridge. The boy appeared mostly harmless, and had gone to her sister's aid without question or hesitation. Still, the degree to which Weiss had opened up her heart to her new friends and her boyfriend frightened Winter, even as it had touched her to see others see the worth in the girl. While it was true that most of Weiss's little friends seemed to lack the capacity for guile - especially that partner of hers, who was practically an open book - appearances could be deceiving. By all accounts, Jaune appeared to be a loyal, affectionate, and sensitive boyfriend.

According to her mother, Jacques had once seemed that way too.

Winter supposed that, once it sank in that Weiss's prospects for inheriting the SDC were gone, they would see just how much Arc actually cared for Weiss herself, as a person. If he was just trying to position himself to pull a Jacques move, well, best to get that sorted and dealt with while the heartbreak could be mitigated. If it turned out that he truly was what he appeared to be, an earnest young man smitten with her sister… she supposed she could be happy for Weiss finding some romance in her life.

She suppressed a groan of exasperation as she entered the bridge and saw Qrow tapping one of the flight crew mechs on the metal head. "Must you insist on acting like a child?" Winter looked over to where the young trainees had strapped themselves into flight seats and were waiting patiently for takeoff. "On second thought, I take that back. Calling you a child is a disservice to the actual children present."

"You can't mean to say you actually let these things fly you around?" Qrow looked downright indignant at the idea.

"Indeed, I do. What of it?"

"These things are stupid, clunky, and as we all saw at Beacon, hackable. Nah, Ice Queen, if you're too good to fly yourself, _I'll_ fly the damn ship."

Winter scoffed. "The _Stardust_ is a state of the art Specialist-class airship, and you expect me to hand it over to the likes of you? What, am I meant to believe that _you_, of all people, have some great experience flying?"

Of all the possible responses to her question, she did not expect Qrow to burst out into laughter. Curiously, one of the trainees, the blonde one with the prosthetic arm, made a strange face at that. Qrow collected himself before strapping himself into a flight seat. "All right, you just tell your toy soldier to take us back to Mistral. Got someone you need to meet about my mission. Hoo, man, haven't had a laugh like that in a while," he muttered with a chuckle. "Heh, flying. Got no idea, Ice Queen."

[/]

Weiss opened her eyes, blinking away the bleariness as she regained consciousness. She looked over to see that one of her arms had an IV in it. Had she been captured? She tried to lift her other hand, only to find that something held it fast.

"Weiss?"

Her heart practically stopped as she remembered where she had been, and who she had seen. "Jaune!"

He held her hand tightly. "I told you I wouldn't let go," he told her.

"I…" Weiss's breath left her in a rush. She literally didn't know where to begin.

"It's okay. We're on your sister's airship, headed back to Mistral. There's…. a lot going on that you'll want to know." Jaune gave a little shrug. "But the important thing is that you're safe."

Weiss wriggled up the bed to sit upright. "I missed you so much," she said, slipping her hand free of Jaune's in order to delicately dab a tear from her eye.

"Me too. Are you feeling up to getting up and seeing everyone else?"

She feigned a supercilious expression. "One should think that they should come to me to pay homage to my greatness," she said in a lofty tone.

"Yeah, you're fine." Jaune chuckled as he turned and pressed a button on a console mounted to the wall. "Specialist Schnee, your sister is awake." They could both hear racuuous cheering in the bridge, which was echoed over the intercom.

"Excellent. Is she able to come to the bridge?"

"Well, she's able to make demands, so yeah, I'm pretty sure she's gonna be okay. See you all in a second." He cut off the intercom just in time to receive a positively bone-crushing hug from Weiss, who had hauled herself off the bed with as much dignity as she could muster. Her toes dangled off the floor as she hung off of him.

"Okay, Weiss. We gotta go."

She buried her head in his side, and somehow, impossibly, squeezed him even tighter. Jaune was fairly sure that he could hear his armor creak under the strain that she put on it. Well, it was either the cuirass or his ribcage, one of those two.

"Can't breathe, Weiss. Also, walking."

"There is no breathing, only Weiss," she mumbled into his chest. Jaune would have sighed, but hyperbole aside, breathing really was something of a challenge at the moment, so he resolutely swung a leg out to the side and then pivoted onto the next, stiff-leggedly shuffling out of the medbay and down the corridor, Weiss clutching onto him all the way.

By the time they reached the bridge, Jaune had successfully managed to talk her down into merely crushing one of his arms under her grip, on the grounds that it would be less worrying to everyone else if she were seen more or less walking under her own power. Another cacophony of cheering and greetings met them as they entered the bridge, but none so loud as -

"WEEEEEEISS!" On cue, Ruby Rose dashed from her seat and blurred her way over to her long-lost partner, who winced at the sound.

"I have a headache, Ruby, please keep it down."

"_Weeeeeeeiss!_" Without missing a beat, Ruby adjusted her customary greeting from a full-bore shout into a half-whisper, half-squeak.

"Thank you," Weiss murmured, before Ruby physically pried her off of Jaune's arm and pulled her into a big hug. "I missed you, Ruby."

"I have so much to tell you!" Ruby visibly strained to keep her volume under control. "Oh, I'm so glad you're okay! Everything is going to be great now!"

Weiss favored her silly partner with a gentle smile. "Well, I couldn't leave my super-bestie better-than-the-restie to handle all of this without me, now could I?

Ruby looked positively euphoric. "You said the thing!"

"Indeed, I said the thing," Weiss agreed.

"Sister." Weiss felt Winter's hand on her shoulder. "I am relieved to see you unharmed. I… there is a great deal that we must discuss at Mistral. For now, I need to prepare for the landing, so strap yourself in to the flight seats."

"Of course." Weiss and Ruby went to rejoin the rest of their crew.

"Oh, and Weiss?" Winter added.

"Yes?"

"You did well. You made the best of the resources available to you, and you endured an ordeal that would have strained even a fully-trained Huntress. You have acquitted yourself admirably. I am proud of you, little sister."

Weiss was unable to respond past the sudden thickness in her throat. All she could manage was a brief nod, which Winter returned as the older sister moved to sit at the center console. Winter rolled her eyes as she saw Qrow in the co-pilot's seat, but opted not to press the issue, sending her fingers skittering across the screen to hail Mistral flight control.

"Mistral, this is Specialist Schnee aboard the ANV _Stardust_, requesting permission to berth after a successful mission."

The radio crackled to life. "_Stardust_, this is Mistral, permission granted. Congratulations on a successful mission."

Winter set the coordinates for the airship docks. After the post-flight check, she would get Weiss to the house that Qrow had rented for his mission, find out what it was, take care of it for him, and then…

"Did you really name your airship _Stardust?_"

Oh no. Looking over, she saw her little sister seated amongst her friends, with a huge grin spreading across her face.

"It's a name with, erm, symbolic significance to the Schnee family," Winter hurriedly explained, hoping that Weiss would get the hint and drop it.

"You named your airship after Grandma Schnee's tricycle! That's _amazing_! Is that why it has streamers?"

Ah. Well. Cat was out of the bag on that one. At least there was nothing else that she could say to make the embarrassment any worse -

"I remember the videos from when you were a little girl! 'Stardust _awaaaaaay!_"

And with that, Winter's humiliation was complete. Worse, it wasn't even some form of teasing on the part of her sister, who seemed unironically gleeful at the homage to a childhood tricycle. Winter, her face red with humiliation and shame, opted to hide said face behind her hands. At least they wouldn't judge her. Speaking of which…

She dared spread her fingers open just enough to confirm that, yes, Qrow bloody Branwen was indeed regarding her with a positively filth-eating grin. He didn't even say anything. Didn't have to. Slowly, Winter closed her fingers again, to seek the solace of her own hands. Perhaps if she didn't see all of the people in her ship, they wouldn't see her either.

"Just… just land the ship, damn you," she said in a small voice.

"Sure thing, your majesty. Stardust, _awaaaay!" _he mimicked. His raspy, whiskey voice saying such a ridiculous call set off the teenagers, who began giggling and laughing.

Winter supposed it could be worse. Little sisters were supposed to be annoying brats, it was the way of things. At least Weiss was here, relatively unharmed, and in a state to fulfill her duties as an embarrassing pest. Of course, her revenge would be _dire_, but after so long in such a state of panic over her sister's well-being, a little levity, even at her own expense, was a relief.

[/]

Following a brief traversal of the city of Mistral, the party arrived at a large house, complete with a courtyard for training Huntsmen. Apparently, Qrow was able to strike a very good bargain, to get such a compound for a single professional Huntsman and a gaggle of trainees. As the Schnee sisters took in the scenery, they saw a small boy approach in coarse, sackcloth clothing. A caretaker perhaps?

"My sister and I are travelling rather light, so we will not require any luggage service." Winter bypassed the boy, pressing a small lien card into his hand. "Do see about bringing some fresh linen for our rooms, would you?"

The boy looked at the card in his hand and shrugged. "Uh… sure? I'm Oscar, by the way."

Winter had no idea what Qrow was chuckling about. It seemed as though the strange man could find humor in any situation, no matter how mundane. "I need to take some time speaking with my sister. Then, we may speak as to this mission of yours."

"Yeah sure, you two take your time. Kids'll be workin' on dinner, so… yeah, see you around."

Weiss followed her sister into one of the bedrooms. Winter closed the door behind her and moved to sit by the window. "So… how are you?"

The younger daughter folded her hands onto her lap. "It… it was so hard, Winter. I was scared and… I had to do things. I killed them. I killed a lot of them, and…" Winter waited patiently as Weiss recovered her composure. "Using subterfuge, sabotage, and guerilla tactics, I inflicted significant casualties on the enemy force. Unfortunately, I was unable to fully shake pursuit, and as a result, several civilians became involved and lost their lives, including a number of Faunus dockworkers and… and Willow Schnee."

Winter stood and embraced her sister, who stared forward, seeking solace in the detachment of cool professionalism. "Due to the significant resources of the Schnee Dust Company, enemy forces mustered reinforcements and followed me in an extended pursuit from Atlas, Mantle, and ultimately, the wilds outside Mistral, where you and your force of auxiliaries intercepted the enemy and destroyed their commander."

"Mother's death, and those other people, that was not your doing, Weiss."

"I'm a Huntress. I'm supposed to protect people, but instead, it was the other way around."

"They made their choices, and they chose to stand between you and the people trying to hurt you."

"What happened to the man leading that group?"

Winter paused as Weiss let go of her. "He won't be coming after you anymore. Not ever again."

"You killed him?"

"I…" Winter struggled for a moment to decide how to phrase it. "He was a very dangerous -"

"Good." She was taken aback by the sudden, fierce look on Weiss's face, her expression as stark and unyielding as the Atlesian ice. "I'm glad that he's dead. He shot our mother, Winter. I'm happy that at least one of us was the one to kill him."

Winter decided to tread very carefully with what she was going to ask next. "Weiss, that man… did he, or anyone else, hurt you?"

Weiss blinked. "I mean, minor cuts, I got singed once blowing up a storehouse, but nothing that Aura couldn't fix."

"Did any of those men force themselves on you?"

"Oh. _Oh._" Weiss shook her head. "I… heard what they wanted to do to me." As her sister watched, Weiss reached under her hooded sweatshirt, and with the sound of tearing adhesive, she produced a vial of mixed Dust. "If… the worse came to pass, I would set it off. Take at least some of them out with me."

Winter was horrified to see how her little sister had been forced to equip herself with what amounted to an improvised suicide bomb. She didn't know how to handle the swirl of emotions going through her; grief that Weiss had had to even consider such a thing, pride that she was resourceful enough to piece it together, and remorse that she couldn't protect her from ever having to experience the depth of human depravity.

"Weiss, I'm so sorry!" Weiss was shocked to hear her sister's voice crack, as the older woman fought to maintain her composure. "I should have… I…"

This time, it was Weiss who embraced her sister. In all the time that she had known her sister, through all of the emotional traumas of their unspeakably messed-up "family," she had never heard Winter crack like that before. Weiss was overwhelmed with the relief of finally being safe, the grief over her mother and the guilt of loss, and to realize the extent that Winter had truly feared for her, had always feared for her…

Weiss lost her composure completely as she clutched onto Winter and cried.

They sat together in silence, until Weiss had no more tears left to fall. The silence was broken by a loud growling from her stomach, prompting an extremely rare laugh from Winter. "I sense a subtle indicator that you may well be hungry," she said. Her voice was strong and solid once more.

"Um… yeah," Weiss admitted. She cleared her eyes. "Ugh, I've been crying far too much of late."

"Don't forget to replace your fluids," Winter reminded her. "Now, let's see how those friends of yours are doing as it pertains to dinner."

"Thank you, Winter," Weiss said. "Thank you for coming for me."

"Of course."

"And…" Weiss looked to the floor for a moment. "When I was at the mansion, Father… Jacques… he tried to convince me that you were helping me to transition as some kind of plot from General Ironwood. Said it was a scheme to undermine him."

"What?" Winter looked genuinely puzzled.

"It was a strange rant he went on. But I remembered everything that you did, everything you've ever done for me. I never doubted that you love me, Winter. Not once. I love you so _much_, Winnie. I couldn't ask for a better sister."

Now it was Winter who found herself at a loss for words. Weiss just smiled up at her sister.

A soft knocking rapped from the door. "Come in," Winter called. The door opened, revealing the young boy, Oscar was it? His arms were full of sheets and blankets.

"I brought the linens you asked for," he said. "Qrow says that dinner should be ready soon, if you're up to it."

"Thank you," said Winter. She stood straight and offered her hand to her sister. "Shall we?"

They followed the boy down the hall, downstairs, and into a large dining room. Oscar wandered off soon afterwards. The trainees were gathered around a large dining table, featuring a large pot filled to the brim with saimin, complete with char siu, and plates of steamed char siu buns. Winter hid her smile as she could tell that it took all of her little sister's mastery of decorum to restrain herself from openly drooling at the bounteous display of food before her.

"Hey," Qrow called from the living room. He gestured to a pair of bowls and plates arrayed on a table in front of him. "Let's let the kids have their little reunion, eh?"

"Fair enough."

Weiss cocked a single, snowy eyebrow at her sister. "What's this? Dinner alone with Sir Qrow? How long has this been going on?"

"I have no idea what you mean," Winter said evenly. "This is merely a mission briefing, as I've agreed to assist Mister Branwen in exchange for his help in finding and protecting you. Also, since when is he _Sir_ Qrow?"

"Your sister's kinda weird, Ice Queen," Qrow called again.

" I would argue the point, but for the self-evident display of shameless dorkiness that we see before us."

"Hey!" Weiss protested.

"Why isn't your boytoy the knight in shining armor?" the Huntsman asked.

"Because he's the brave squire on a quest to prove his mettle and win the love of his fair lady, obviously!"

"Obviously," Winter glared at Jaune, who, to his credit, gazed calmly back.

"And stop scaring my boyfriend, he's done nothing wrong!"

"Yet, at least. Well, go have fun with your friends, Weiss," Winter said, leaving her sister at the dining room.

"Kids and their imaginations, huh?" Qrow greeted her, sliding a glass to Winter's side of the table. She eyed it dubiously, but it turned out to be red wine, and a rather fine vintage at that. If the man had no other redeeming qualities, he at least knew his drink.

"Weiss always feels everything very intensely," Winter said fondly. "When you agreed to go after her… well, her boyfriend, you must have made a strong impression on her. She hasn't had much positive male influence in her life. Thank you again for what you've done for her. For us."

"Ah, that's just the job," Qrow waved her off. "Besides, since when the hell am I a _good_ influence?"

"Since you helped me find her and keep her safe," she told him.

Qrow coughed, clearly not having expected such a direct answer to an obviously rhetorical question. "Well, uh… it's nothing anyone wouldn't do. And anyways, you're kinda in the same boat with my girls. Ruby's mom was great, but… well, the life of a Huntress you know?"

Winter nodded. It was a sobering reminder of the dangers that colored their world, and the life of a Huntress was more dangerous than most.

"So, the girls were talking about Glynda Goodwitch, and also how Weiss's big sister was such a good mom to her, showing her the ropes, helping her every step of the way. It's good for them to see older women living the Huntress life. I'm hoping you can be kind of a mentor to my girls too."

Winter flushed from the praise. She wasn't used to other people praising her efforts with Weiss, apart from Weiss herself. "I'm… well, I'm not actually Weiss's mother, you understand." Winter sipped her wine.

"Yeah, well… you're doing better than Yang's mom. She's the friggin' bandit queen of Anima." He winced at the look of shock on Winter's face, which was followed by… sympathy? "How do you look a kid in the eye and tell her that her mom doesn't give a rat damn about her? That your own sister abandoned her whole family just to kill people for their stuff?"

Well. That certainly explained some of the drinking.

"All you can do is fill the void as best you can," she told him. "It's not enough, but it must be better than nothing, no?"

"I guess you'd know about that," he said.

"Understatement of the year." Winter took a bite of a steamed bun. "Mm. This is actually quite good," she mentioned.

"Turns out the ninja kid's actually pretty good in the kitchen," Qrow shrugged as he scooped a mouthful of delicious noodles into his mouth.

"You taught the Ruby girl her combat style?"

"Yeah, that was me. Kid insisted on a scythe from day one. She spun herself right to the ground trying to use one the first day of training."

Winter allowed herself a small smile as she imagined her sister's happy little friend spinning to the ground, toppling over like a whirring top. "Weiss once froze her shoes to the ground when she was learning how to use Dust," she said conspiratorially, fondly remembering the incident. "It took her hours to get them free."

The two of them ate and drank, and shared stories of their respective pupils. It wasn't until they heard a loud crash and Nora shouting that Winter realized that two full hours had passed and she hadn't even broached the subject of the mission that she had agreed to assist with.

"We should probably go gather the children and get down to business," she said. She was surprised to find that she was slightly regretful for their conversation to come to an end. When was the last time she had sat down and dined with someone not her sister and just had a conversation? No commanders and subordinates, no mission, just two people talking with one another? Winter was mildly distressed to realize that she couldn't recall.

Qrow drained his glass and gathered their dishes together. "You know, it's actually good to see the person under all that military precision. For a while, I figured your only settings were Atlas robot and blistering fury."

"Well, you do have a talent for pushing buttons, _Sir_ Qrow," Winter said, arching her eyebrow at him.

The Huntsman made a show of checking his glass. "Did I drink too much? Did I really just hallucinate _Winter Schnee_ teasing someone?"

"You would do well to simply assume that you've drunk too much as a matter of course," Winter snarked. "And am I to understand that your infuriating behavior was for the express purpose of getting my attention? Should I expect you to be pulling my pigtails next?"

"You want me to pull your hair, you just say the word, Ice Queen." Qrow winked at her. He _winked_ at her! Why was it that he felt the need to keep winking at her?!

Winter blushed, and she inwardly cursed her fair complexion. No doubt he would assume - wrongly! - that the flush on her face and neck was caused by anything other than the burning fire of her _unyielding_ rage. The nerve of that man! "I, that is, _you_, that was… that was _so_ not what I meant!" she stammered.

"Sure thing, Ice Queen. Whatever you say." He deposited the dishes into the kitchen sink and swept into the dining room before she could formulate an articulate response.

[/]

"Go have fun with your little friends, Weiss," her big sister told her before practically skipping off to go have a dinner date with Qrow Branwen. Or at least as close to skipping as Winter Schnee ever got. Oh, she would never admit it, probably not even to herself, but Winter simply didn't _do_ dinner with people she didn't have some degree of investment in. At least she hadn't since leaving the SDC behind and joining the military. If she truly had no patience for the man, she would simply have taken her meal in her own room, and then glared at him until he told her what she wanted to know.

Well, if her big sister wanted to associate with a handsome, older man with rugged facial hair and a strong sense of family duty, _Weiss_ certainly wasn't going to stand in her way. The man could stand to cut down on the drinking, but that was a self-correcting problem; he would either temper his vices, or she would kick him to the curb. If nothing else, Qrow had proven that he could be relied upon when the situation was serious, and his word had been good thus far.

With that in mind, Weiss dismissed her speculations on her older sister's potential love life. Her friends were gathered before her. Her face fell as she remembered the two who were not with her that afternoon, but considering the last few months that she'd had, even an imperfect reunion was infinitely better than no reunion at all.

Also, the food was good, really, _really _good!

Jaune handed her a drink, and she happily accepted a chilled bottle of a fruity sports drink, one that was popular amongst athletes and Huntsmen. Blue raspberry, her favorite flavor. Little gestures like remembering what flavors she liked showed Weiss that Jaune paid attention to her and thought about her. She felt a soothing warmth in her chest, one that she had missed for so long.

She graced him with a tender smile, one which faded as she looked down to the bottle and saw a picture of Pyrrha, standing proudly with her hands on her hips. Apparently, proceeds from the sale of this drink went towards a charity for displaced families in Vale.

"I miss her too," she told Jaune.

"Yeah… it's been hard without her."

"All we can do is press on in her memory." She took a sip. "If nothing else, she would have been happy that one of those sponsorships she always complained about at least did something worthwhile with her likeness."

"I just wish she were here with us."

_Take care of him…._

"Hey, that's enough moping," she told him with a playful tone that, nevertheless, held a subtle edge of command to it. "She'd kick your butt for being a party pooper in her name. Pyrrha wanted all of us to be happy, and we can start by munching all of Ren's delicious food!" Weiss arched her eyebrow at him as she used her chopsticks to scoop some noodles, earning a brave little smile from him in turn.

"Hey, I helped too!" protested Ruby,

Weiss swallowed her food properly before turning to address her partner. "Did you, Ruby? Did you _really?"_ she drolly responded. Ruby's kitchen disasters were the stuff of legend, to the extent that even a kitchen fire was considered a minor mishap when she set her mind to cooking. "Why don't we ask Ren just how helpful you were?"

Ren, being no one's fool, knew a potential minefield when he saw one, and wisely opted to sidestep the issue entirely. "Perhaps we should share what we've all been doing in our time apart?

Weiss listened intently as her friends began recounting their experiences since the last time they were together. Yang went first, briefly outlining her recovery process, before venting about her long-lost mother. She very nearly called Raven Branwen a particularly unkind and obscene name before remembering that Ruby was there, and quickly adjusting her rant to end on the word 'witch' instead.

By the time she had finished her story, Weiss had eaten two buns and finished off her bowl of noodles. Oh, by the standards of normal teenagers, it was merely eating at a determined pace, but by _Weiss_ standards, she may as well have stuck her face in the bowl and slurped. It was so self-evident that she had been ravenously hungry that, as soon as she polished off the first bowl, Jaune refilled it with seconds, placing it before her with an inviting smile.

As she dug into more of the delicious saimin, the members of Team RNJR - and wasn't that a strange thought! - played hot potato with the epic tale of their trek across Anima.

"And that's when I realized we'd lost the map," Jaune sheepishly admitted.

"Well, he certainly made up for it later," Nora interjected. "You should have seen him stop a giant Grimm head-on! You've got some serious strength there, Mister Muscles. Weiss knows what I'm talking about," she added with a sly, knowing smile.

Weiss quickly swallowed her noodles, carefully covering her mouth with her hand. "What do you mean by that, Nora?"

"What I _mean_ is that, for a girl who supposedly doesn't like physical contact, you're all over Jaune-Jaune. I'm surprised you let go of him enough to eat. Look, you're still touching him now!"

She looked down, and sure enough, she had somehow migrated closer to him and was pressing her leg and hip into him. That probably said something about her on a subconscious level that she wasn't prepared to deal with at the dinner table. Denying that she was touching him wasn't going to make the situation any better. So, when in doubt, own it. Weiss leaned her upper body against him. She arched then slowly reached up and behind herself, running her fingers through a suddenly-stammering Jaune's hair while maintaining eye contact with Nora. Weiss lightly teased her fingers down the side of his face and gently stroked down his neck.

"Mine," she simply declared.

Yang whistled. "Holy crap, Weiss got hot all of a sudden. When did that happen?"

"I've always been, as you say, _hot,_" Weiss retorted. "You all just lacked the good judgement to bask in the turbulence of my magnificence. You may begin said basking at your leisure."

"You broke Jaune," Ruby casually pointed out, and sure enough, he was a stammering wreck of a young man.

Weiss turned to smile at him and pat his arm fondly. "He'll recover."

"So," Yang interrupted before she could set off on another fit of bragging. "What happened with you in Atlas?"

As they watched her, Weiss seemed to shrink before their eyes, going from overplaying her high-maintenance persona for comedic effect to looking guarded and distant. Her smile faded, she sat upright, and folded her hands carefully on her lap, studiously avoiding making any eye contact with her friends. "I'm sorry. I just… I would really prefer not to talk about it."

She could feel the awkwardness descend upon the table, and she hated herself for bringing the party to a screeching halt.

"Well," Jaune, bless him, tried to make her feel better. "I like your haircut. It really shows off your pretty neck."

"Yeah, we can be hair bob buddies!" added Ruby.

Weiss stared down at her empty bowl. "The hair wasn't my choice," she said glumly. "There were a lot of things in Atlas that weren't my choice."

Yang shared a look of alarm with Ruby. "Hey, Weiss, I forgot to mention that we have mochi ice cream in the freezer. There's a lot of it, so would you help me bring it in?"

"Huh?" Weiss seemed confused by the abrupt change of subject. "Um, sure, okay." She stood up to follow Yang into the kitchen, where the blonde girl pulled her aside and gently took her by the hands. Distantly, the intellectually-curious part of Weiss that never truly went away noted that Yang's bionic prosthetic was as warm as her natural hand, and she wondered if that was due to the Dust powering it or as a side-effect of Yang's Aura.

"Okay, so…" Yang began. "We heard what that guy said back in the forest. If… something happened to you, you should know that none of us will think any less of you for it. It doesn't make you any less of a Huntress - "

"Oh," Weiss interrupted. "I, um, I already had this conversation with my sister. _That_ didn't happen, but… well, some of them made their intention quite clear." she sighed as she looked at Yang's flesh hand. "The thing is… a lot of people died, Yang. My mother was one of them. Some people died to protect me. Other people died because I had to kill them."

Yang pulled her into a hug. "You did what you had to do. Those men were still chasing you after you took some of them out, so they clearly weren't going to let you go without a fight. They didn't have the right to attack you, Weiss."

Weiss sighed. "It's just… difficult. But I told myself that I'm done crying."

"You aim to misbehave?"

"Oh, _spectacularly_ so," Weiss confirmed with a smile. The two women separated, and Yang let go of her hands. "That reminds me, I used you as a fashion inspiration when Jacques tried to make me dress up like a boy."

Yang looked delighted. "Really? Did you take pictures?"

"Even better." Weiss pulled off her hoodie, revealing the cropped shirt and vest she still wore underneath. "I thought, 'if I'm going to rebel against authority, who should I emulate to really offend my father's sensibilities?' And of course, I thought of you. And then I burned down some buildings that he owned."

"Oh my gosh," Yang's eyes sparkled in pure joy. "_Yes._ Rebellion _and_ arson? If Jaune isn't careful, I'm going to snatch you up myself. Also, dem abs doe."

"'Dem abs' indeed," agreed Weiss. "I'm going to get this outfit replaced though. It's the best of a bad situation, but it just isn't _me_. But I thought you would appreciate it. Now, was there really mochi ice cream?"

Jaune was a fairly considerate young man, but when Weiss emerged from the kitchen with a tray of mochi ice cream balls and having removed her hoodie, well, he had _thoughts_, most of which could be summed up by the word 'abs.' The top she wore revealed generous expanses of flat, toned midriff, the hint of her strong core muscles showing through a layer of feminine softness.

He was used to thinking of Weiss as beautiful, as wonderful, as somewhat prissy and completely adorable, but he was not used to thinking of her as _sexy_. As he felt heat rise to his cheeks, Jaune had a sudden and rather powerful urge to touch her, to feel her bare flesh in his hands.

As soon as those feelings had arisen, they were replaced with shame. Firstly, Mama Arc had raised a gentleman, and gentlemen didn't stare at women like they wanted to devour them. Secondly, she had just endured a harrowing experience, and the last thing she needed was yet another man leering at her body.

Then she set the tray down on the table and favored him with a flirtatious little wink, and his blood was on fire yet again. Between that and the way she had touched him earlier, well, even he could pick up on those signals, and he was infamously oblivious. What was he going to do about it? Well, he had some ideas on what he'd _like_ to do, but the first step would be to make sure that she was in the proper state of mind, and that she was emotionally well. He would not take advantage.

His thoughts were interrupted by Nora challenging Yang to arm-wrestle, and soon enough, the boisterous women were locked in an epic struggle. Apparently, Yang's new arm had a rocket launch feature, and she sent Nora flying across the room to smash into a wall. The redhead screamed as she saw that she still held Yang's arm, and she threw it to back, prompting the blonde prankster to let out deep belly laugh.

Weiss smiled at the display. She could endure any amount of ridiculous, immature antics from her friends if it meant replacing the sound of Yang's anguished wail from the Fall with tonight's unrestrained laughter. She helped Jaune gather up the dishes, and then stole a quick kiss from him as they put them into the dishwater. Teasing him was quickly becoming her new favorite pastime. He was just so cute when he was flustered!

They passed by Qrow as he brought the dishes from the living room. "Hey kids, we're gonna gather round to talk business," the Huntsman told them. "You mind rounding them all up?"

[/]

They sat around the living room in silence for a moment, the new arrivals absorbing what they'd just heard. Weiss spoke up first.

"You're Ozpin."

The boy - or, the professor wearing the body of a young boy - smiled indulgently at her. "That is correct, Miss Schnee."

"And you're a wizard."

"Not quite the terminology that I used, but close enough for modern vernacular, I suppose."

"Maidens. Magic. Relics. Gods. All real."

"I'm afraid so."

Weiss crossed her arms. "I don't believe it."

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to side with my sister," Winter added. "These are quite the extraordinary claims. Dust, Aura, Semblances, these are all well-known and well-documented phenomena, all of which can be quantified and understood in a rational sense. The idea of magic simply doesn't mesh with the natural laws of our world as we -"

Qrow turned into a bird.

Well. That shut her up. For a moment, at least.

They all stared at Qrow, who quite literally preened. The Schnee sisters shared a look, and then, as one, they stood up and stalked over to Qrow. He cawed in alarm and tried to fly away, but Winter snatched him out of the air, quick as a viper, and held him up for inspection.

"No mirrors or strings," began Weiss.

"Neither was there any obfuscating medium, such as smoke," Winter continued. "If you are Qrow Branwen, then you will be able to respond intelligently to a test, correct? Well, 'intelligently' in the relative sense, as you would still be Qrow Branwen."

Qrow cawed in indignation.

"I'll administer the test," Weiss said. "If you are Qrow Branwen… stick your left foot in." The bird complied. "And now put your left foot out. Next, put your right foot in. Finally, shake it all about." As the bird followed her instructions, Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Winter, he passes the hokey pokey test."

"Indeed." The older sister peered at the crow in her hands. Finally, she said "Wine is better than whiskey." Qrow instantly reverted back to his human form, manifesting bridal style in her arms.

"Hey now, Ice Queen, those are fighting words!"

Winter dropped him to the floor, where he landed with a muffled swear. "How… how does that work?"

Weiss scratched her head. "Where does the excess mass go when he transforms? Qrow, where does your excess mass go when you transform?"

He looked confused. "What?"

"And how are you able to maintain human consciousness in such a considerably less complex neurological structure?" Winter added.

"Uh..."

"And how do you manifest your clothing and weapon when you transform back into a human? Do they fuse into the avian physiology, or do they simply revert into energy until such time as they are flash-forged back to their previous material state upon reversion to human?" followed up Weiss.

Qrow shrugged. "I dunno. A wizard did it."

The sisters fell silent. Then Weiss looked up. "Are Qrow and Raven humans that can turn into birds, or birds that can turn into humans?"

Yang's eyes widened at that question, an unsurprising reaction given the implications for her. Ozpin chuckled. "Oh, they are humans that I gifted with the power to turn into birds. While I prided Beacon on accepting individuals from all walks of life, admitting actual birds into the school would have been a step too far."

"So… suppose that I were more inclined to believe your claims now," Winter began cautiously.

"A wise choice, given the evidence before you."

"How exactly would we go about securing these Relics?"

"Before explaining my plan, Specialist, you need to understand that this mission is above petty national concerns. There is no shame in your service, but this goes beyond what General Ironwood may have assigned you to do."

Winter looked at her sister. She knew that, one way or another, Weiss would never consent to leaving her friends behind, not now with a grand mission like this before her. And truthfully, Winter herself did not wish to turn her back on this, not when there were so many world-shaking revelations to be discovered here.

"My current mission is to protect Weiss Schnee as a material witness to a matter concerning the national security of Atlas," Winter began slowly. "If, in the course of that mission, she voluntarily undertakes a grand crusade to save the world, then I would simply need to accompany her. For her own safety."

Weiss's smile could power a small town. "As it just so happens, I do believe that I am currently available to assist in this matter."

"Fair enough," said Ozpin. "As for the rest of you, if you wish to back out, now is the time. There is no shame in turning back, only in forsaking this responsibility later on."

To everyone's surprise, Yang stood. "If Ruby stays, than so will I," she announced. "She always seems to know the right thing to do. _But_," she added, pointing a robotic finger at Ozpin, "if we're going to do this, if we're going to fight and risk our lives for you… then no more secrets. No more manipulations."

"Fair enough," Oz repeated. "Then if there are no objections, we can begin. We need to secure the Relic at Haven, and that means locating a Maiden to open the Vault. Qrow is working on that, while the students have been training to make them more capable in combat. Specialist Schnee, if you could assist in that endeavor, it would keep you close to your sister while imparting valuable experience to the students. Once Professor Lionheart makes good on the whereabouts of the Spring Maiden, we can retrieve her and then secure the Relic."

Winter nodded. "Your plan seems sound thus far."

"Well, then, if you're all onboard, then let's adjourn for the evening. I'm sure Miss Schnee could use some more rest."

"I'm just as fit as any-" Weiss's objection was interrupted by a profound yawn, one that she remembered at the last moment to hide behind her hand. She gave a sheepish little shrug as she looked up at her sister. "On second thought, sleep sounds good too."

[/]

Weiss woke up in the middle of the night, and was quite displeased by that fact. She had been forced to become a lighter sleeper during her trek, and had been looking forward to some uninterrupted, hardcore snoozing. She tossed and turned, and found herself quite unable to drift back to sweet, sweet, blissful slumber.

Throwing aside her blanket with a huff, Weiss stretched and rolled out of bed. She was clad in an oversized tee shirt that Yang had leant to her to serve as a makeshift nightgown. The moonlight streaked through the window, drawing Weiss over. She had always enjoyed looking at the moon, losing herself in idle dreaming until such time as sleep found her once more.

As she looked out from her window, however, she caught a brief glint of the moonlight reflecting off of something metallic in the courtyard. Looking down, she saw her boyfriend training hard, alone in the night. Why was he doing that at this hour?

On bare feet, she padded down the stairs and out the door. As she crept closer to where Jaune was practicing, she heard Pyrrha's voice, leading him through exercises. He swept his sword through a powerful cut and took a moment to catch his breath. The recording of Pyrrha began to talk about how proud she was of his progress.

_Oh, Jaune…_

[/]

Jaune channeled his Aura through Crocea Mors. Focusing on maintaining a deepened connection to his weapon, he timed the spiritual pulse just so, releasing it in sync with a powerful cut. His efforts were rewarded with a manifestation of a powerful razor wind that swept through the courtyard.

He turned to regard his Scroll, and froze.

Sitting on the floor next to it, her bare legs drawn up to her chest, Weiss watched him, her huge blue eyes shining in the moonlight. He stood, frozen in indecision, before the video on his Scroll looped around to the beginning. "You should go back to bed," he told her. She neither responded nor made to leave, simply sitting and watching.

Jaune shook his head and tried to focus on the next repetition. He could feel her eyes on him, following each movement. As his routine came to an end, he made to cut off Pyrrha's motivational speech and return to the beginning.

"No, seriously, you should get to bed. I'm okay, honest."

She never moved, nor responded. Her gaze wasn't judging him, just… watching. He went through another routine, but his heart wasn't in it, and he soon wound down. Jaune sighed as he looked to the skies in frustration, sheathing his sword with a soft click and collapsing his shield. "Look, this is just something I need to do. To get stronger." He reached down to retrieve his Scroll, only for Weiss to grab on to his wrist and go for a ride to her feet. She kept her grip on his wrist, and added her other arm for good measure.

"I'm okay," he protested. She ignored his protestations, and began to drag him upstairs by the arm. "All right, I'm going to bed now," he said as they neared the bedroom that he shared with Nora and Ren… and then they passed it. "Uh, Weiss? My room's back there?"

Weiss opened the door to her own room and unceremoniously shoved him inside. She closed the door behind them.

"Oh, I guess you want to spend the night with me?"

"There's that tactical acumen at work," she broke her silence with a snark. She swiftly began to detach his armor, and tugged his sweatshirt off of him.

"Hey, I can undress my-"

Weiss gently grabbed his chin and then proceeded to kiss him deeply, passionately. Boldly, she slipped her tongue into his mouth, reaching up with her other hand to run her fingers through his perpetually-messy hair. She pushed him onto the bed and began to tug down his pants.

"Are you sure it's okay?"

She paused for a moment. "What do you mean?"

Jaune sat upright, a serious expression on his face. "I mean, you've been through a lot, and I don't want to feel guilty about taking advantage of you when you're in a vulnerable state."

"Did you threaten to rape me bloody?"

"_What?_" He looked shocked at the mere suggestion that he would ever, _could_ ever, do such a thing.

"Did you shoot my mother in the head?"

"No, of course not!'

"Did you try to hurt me for weeks on end?"

"Weiss, no, I would never-"

"I know." She took held his face in her hands. "You're not the man who did those things. I can tell the difference, you know. You're my sweet, gentle, silly Jaune, and I love you." Weiss kissed him again, and pushed him to lay on her bed once more. "Besides, I've wanted this for a while now," she confessed as she pulled down his pants. She was gratified to see that her efforts had paid off, as the extent of his arousal was made clearly visible. "The Fall just… interrupted things. I procured books about this and studied extensively for what I would do with you when I got the chance."

Of all the responses she could have expected from him, she was not anticipating him to snicker with poorly-contained laughter. Her jaw dropped. "Hey! What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry," he said. "Oh Weiss, I do love you. It's just… that's such a _Weiss_ thing to say! You studied for this like it was a test at Beacon? Am I going to be graded on this? Is this a pop quiz?"

Weiss folded her arms under her bust, canted her hip, and arched a brow at him. "Hmph. A beautiful girl drags you into her room, pulls your clothes off, tells you she loves you and wants to sleep with you, and your response is to laugh at her?"

He winced. "In retrospect, errors have been made."

"I'll say. Do you know what your biggest mistake was?"

"What's that?"

She peeled off nightshirt, baring her small, soft breasts to him. Clad only in her blue silk briefs, she _slowly_ crawled up his body, letting him feel her glide across his torso. Weiss captured his lips again, in a fierce kiss made desperate with need. "You misunderstood me, Jaune. All this time, I've been a very bad girl." She reached down to tease his member, savoring the feel of the hot, rigid flesh in her hand. Clever, delicate fingers worked up and down its length, drawing a moan from deep within her man. Just a few pumps, and he was powerless before her.

Weiss then gave him a truly _devious_ smile as she abruptly let go and rolled onto her side, facing away from him. "Goodnight, Jaune," she said cheerfully, as she pulled one of his arms over her like a blanket.

In the darkness, Jaune blinked. "Wait, what?"

"I said goodnight. Maybe a good girl would take pity on you, but a bad girl makes her point." To emphasize said point, she pressed her nearly-nude backside against him, wriggling her rather spectacular bottom against him, nearly making him lose it right there.

Jaune wanted to whine, and plead, and beg her for mercy to ease the aching need in his loins, but that wasn't him, not anymore. Boys whined. Men endured. And so he released his frustration with a deep sigh. He did kind of have it coming, after all. "Goodnight, Weiss," he finally said.

"I love you." The teasing tone was gone from her voice, replaced with vulnerable sincerity.

"I love you too. Even when you're being evil."

"You deserve it," she giggled softly. Slowly, she began falling asleep in his arms, feeling warm and safe and _whole_. So, she may not have successfully scratched a particular itch of hers that night, but a Jaune that was going crazy with desire for her was a Jaune that wasn't self-destructing with guilt alone in the courtyard. Not a perfect win for the night, but she'd take what she could get.

[/]

Weiss woke up just before dawn, feeling eminently satisfied. She was feeling quite fine, and had the extra bonus of a nude Jaune in her arms. Nora had been quite correct; Mister Muscles _indeed_. He had already been developing quite nicely back at Beacon, but after months of hard living on the road to Mistral, Jaune had never been more defined, and had even added just a bit of bulk to his form. She blushed as saw how he had a cut v-shape along his abs, leading down to his manhood.

Upon further consideration, perhaps not letting him have his wicked, wicked way with her last night was a mistake after all.

Oh well. Sacrifices had to be made in the name of justice. Still, as she slipped out of bed to quietly brush her teeth in the attached bathroom, she couldn't help but keep stealing glances at him.

Jaune woke up not long after. He took in first Weiss's nearly-nude state, and second, the toothbrush she held up in her hand. Right. Morning breath. As he staggered back into the bedroom proper, he stopped cold at the heavy-lidded look Weiss gave him as she sensually stretched on the bed.

"You were such a good boy last night," Weiss teased. "However should I reward your behavior?"

He leaned over her. "I have some ideas on the matter."

"Oh? Like -"

She cut off as he pulled her into a tight kiss, then gasped as he began kissing, biting, and sucking on the side of her neck and her collarbone. "Mmm, _Jaune_," she moaned, throwing her head back to grant him easy access.

He climbed fully on top of her. While he supported most of his weight on his elbows, what weight did press down on her crushed her in just the most delightful way. Her hands glided along his back and sides, feeling the interplay of musculature that they teased. Out of pure instinct, she spread her legs and wrapped them around his waist, pulling him even closer until -

They both felt it at the same time, and looked down in unison, he in curiosity, and her in mortification. Peeking out from between a slit in her briefs, her own member, small, dark pink flushed with blood and hard as diamond, had come untucked. The offending member was standing straight up in the air, twitching as it brushed against Jaune's flesh.

Jaune just shrugged and made to keep kissing her. "Jaune, no, wait, _stop_," Weiss said. He instantly pushed himself off of and away from her as she pulled her legs up and rolled into the fetal position. "Don't look at me!" she wailed.

"Weiss, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"

She looked over her shoulder at him in confusion. Didn't he get it? "I know you saw it," she said, shakily.

He scratched the back of his head, equally at a loss. " What, your penis? Yeah, and? That's kind of what happens when things get hot and heavy."

Weiss looked at the floor, at the wall across from her, anywhere but at him. "I… I don't want you to see me as anything other than a girl."

"Weiss…" Jaune put his hand on her shoulder. She reached up and took it.

"I'm sorry, Jaune. I… I think we should probably get dressed now."

"Okay."

The playful, sexually-charged mood had given way to an awkward silence as the couple dressed themselves. Weiss felt horrible, both about being seen having an erection, and about how that caused her to completely kill the mood. Jaune felt worried about her, and guilty that he had somehow done something wrong again.

When they were both dressed, Weiss fell into his arms. "I'm so sorry," she said in a soft, quiet voice. "I thought I was ready, I really did, but I guess I'm not." She felt Jaune begin to stroke her hair.

"It's okay. These things happen. It's probably my fault anyway."

"No!" She told him firmly. "You did everything right this morning. Everything up to… to that, Jaune, it was _wonderful_. I just… I know I want to be with you. But I need to learn how to be with me first. Will you wait for me?"

"As long as it takes. Arc's promise," he told her.

She smiled sadly at him, before she had another thought. "Oh, and you're still my boyfriend. Not getting away from me that easily."

He chuckled. "Wouldn't dream of it, Snowflake. And I meant what I said last night. I love you. All of you. From tip," he kissed the top of her head, "to toe." Jaune got down on one knee and kissed her foot.

It was a cheesy gesture, and silly, but it was also completely sincere and utterly Jaune, and she loved the goof all the more for it. As she looked at him, with him down on one knee, she got a sudden, and very certain presentiment.

Someday, somehow, she was going to marry the _shit_ out of this man.

She could call off the manhunt, The One was right there in front of her, being a wonderful, understanding, honest and loving dork. The sudden burst of warmth coursing through her soul helped ease some of the shame and guilt of the morning's events, and the smile she offered to Jaune was full, bright, and truly joyful as he stood up to face her.

"You really are a marvel of a man," she told him.

He offered her his arm, leading her out to greet the day.

"And you're my lady."

[/]

At noon, she returned to her bathroom, ready to shower off the sweat from the morning training session and prepare to go shopping for serviceable clothes with Yang, Ruby and Winter. As she stripped down, she stopped to regard herself in the bathroom mirror. Out of unconscious habit, she had naturally brought her hands in front of herself to shield her genitals from view. Slowly, deliberately, she parted her hands.

In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't really all that much of a thing to have caused so much heartache for her. It was just a small, fleshy pink tube, no more than three inches long in its current state, backed by a loose sack of skin with two orbs in them. It was just flesh and blood vessels, all of it merely arrayed in a different configuration than any other woman's.

After beginning the hormone treatments, she had begun to experience penile atrophy. This had bothered her not one bit, but for the fact that her doctor informed her that she may need to prevent further atrophy in order to have enough tissue for a successful genital reassignment surgery, if she so wished it in the future. It wasn't that the hormones caused the atrophy directly, so much as it was that they stopped the random erections that cisgender men got that kept atrophy at bay. So it was that Weiss had received the rather embarrassing direction to induce an erection on herself periodically, in order to keep from atrophying any further.

Honestly, even without the hormones and the atrophy, Weiss doubted that she ever would have been too impressive a male specimen anyway.

Following the incident with the razor, Winter had taken her to get consultation on not only hormones and t-blockers, but also permanent hair removal. The combination of fair skin and white hair made her a poor candidate for laser treatment, so they had utilized electrolysis to zap out the hair with extreme prejudice. It had been uncomfortable, but ultimately well worth it for never again having to fear the hair splitting open the skin of her face and ruining her. There would be no Weiss-stache!

Since she had been possessed of no small amount of expendable cash, she had also opted for treatment under her arms, along her legs, and finally, on her pubic region. That final one had been at the behest of her doctor, who informed her that it would be best to ensure that the hair was fully and permanently removed from that region so that, in the event she received GRS, no hairs would grow inside of her new configuration.

_That _had been one of the more mortifying experiences of her life, as she had been fully exposed while technicians excised the hair from just under her belly all the way around, between her legs and up the crack of her bottom. Fortunately, the workers had all been strictly professional, but she had still gone home burning so bright red from the humiliation that Winter had wondered if she had somehow been sunburned in the experience.

All of that had taken no small amount of time, effort, discomfort, and expense to achieve, but now, if Weiss truly wished to, she could undergo surgery that could ensure that what happened that morning would never happen again. Before, as a minor, she would have needed her father's permission to get the surgery, and even with all that they had gotten away with prior to that point, Winter had not dared to risk that much. Now, as an adult Huntress-in-training, she was on an important mission, and she couldn't afford to take the time out to recover from such a surgery, not with her friends depending on her. Even with Aura speeding the recovery time relative to a normal person, it would still take weeks before she would be cleared for strenuous activity. It wasn't as if she could wave her hand and magically change her -

Her palm smacked hard into her forehead. As someone who had always been the designated Smart Girl in any group of which she was a part, she wasn't used to feeling stupid.

First, she needed to clean up. Then get dressed. After that?

Time to see the wizard.

[/]

Weiss approached Oscar, luckily finding him in one of the rare moments where Qrow or one of the others wasn't at his side. She held a quick internal debate about discussing this with Ozpin before ultimately deciding that, even if it proved to be impossible, she would regret it forever if she didn't even find out for herself.

"Excuse me," she said, struggling to find the proper way to phrase the first question. "Is the professor in?"

"Oh, um, sure, one moment," the boy said. After a second, he flashed green, and adopted the easy, relaxed posture of an experienced educator. "Ah, good day Miss Schnee," Ozpin greeted her.

"Hello, Professor Ozpin. I was wondering if I could ask a question of you? It pertains to magic."

"One of many, I'm sure," he chuckled. "Still, I would be a poor teacher if I did not endeavor to educate you on one of the foundational forces of our world. What is it you wish to know?"

Weiss fidgeted with her fingers. "Would it be possible for you to use your magic to… to help me transform into a woman?"

Ozpin sat back and steepled his fingers. "Well, Miss Schnee, I should like to point out that you're a woman in the first place. There wouldn't be much benefit to that, would there?"

"I mean… a woman like other women. A normal woman."

"Has it occurred to you, Miss Schnee, that very little about you is normal?"

She looked as if she'd been slapped. "What?"

"Beacon Academy is… was, the finest educational institution in the world, attracting many exceptional individuals. And yet you, Miss Schnee, consistently dominated the theoretical studies portion of the grades, and finished at or near the very top of your class in every practical application exam thrown your way. To put it simply, you were an exceptional individual even among exceptional individuals. Furthermore, you put aside unimaginable wealth and privilege to pursue actualization for yourself, justice for others, and reform for society as a whole. No, you have always been an exception, and you always will be."

Weiss gaped like a fish. Sure, she had always had a healthy dose of self-confidence - some might phrase it instead as "conceit"- in most aspects of her life, but to see it laid out before her in such a calmly rational argument was still rather jarring. She shook her head. Irrespective of all of that, however, he was still evading the true intent behind her questioning.

"I want to know if I can shapeshift into the body of a cisgender woman," she said as flatly and bluntly as she could.

"Ah." Ozpin sipped his mug. "Well, there are two answers to that question, the immediately practical and the ethically foundational."

"And?"

"The answer to both is no."

"What? Why?! You can turn Qrow into a bird, but you can't set my body right?"

"As to the first, the practical answer, I cannot help you in that request because I need every last fragment of magical power, no matter how minute, if we are to stand any chance whatsoever against Salem and her forces."

Well… that made sense.

"But even if you could, you wouldn't?" she pressed.

He took another sip. "Just so. You see, I would be doing very poorly by a student indeed if I were to lead her down a path of faulty reasoning."

"I don't follow," said Weiss.

"You have been laboring under the misapprehension that there is something wrong with you, a foundational defect that is in dire need of correction. The phrase 'born in the wrong body,' isn't it?" Ozpin chuckled ruefully. "Trust me, as someone who is quite literally occupying a body not my own, there is nothing wrong with the matchup between you and your body, save your perception of said relationship."

Weiss frowned. "Are you trying to tell me that I shouldn't have transitioned?"

Ozpin waved her off. "Not at all. I meant what I said when I addressed you as a woman, and indeed, you are just as much a woman as any other here. No, what I mean to say is that, instead of viewing your body as a defective vessel, it may do well for your peace of mind to consider your body as an ongoing project in self-expression. You should speak with Miss Xiao Long on this subject; I suspect that you will find that she has some new, hard-won insight to share."

He leaned forward. "Ah, but there you are, Weiss Schnee, the girl staring at the mirror, consumed with finding her imperfections. Have you considered that perhaps, _you_ are the mirror?" A wry smile far too aged for the teenage face upon which is sat spread across his face. "Reflect."

With that, the boy flashed green once more, and the professor had retreated. "Huh," Oscar said, scratching his head. "What do you think he meant by that?"

[/]

Ozpin's words lingered with Weiss as she, Ruby, Yang and Winter all went to a clothing store that specialized in outfitting Huntsmen and Huntresses. She tried not to get too distracted as her friends and sister bantered about. Weiss would have been nervous about potential SDC pursuit, but with two other Huntress cadets and _Winter Schnee_ on her side, she felt she could afford to relax just a little bit. She tuned back into the conversation, just in time to catch a rather disquieting inquiry.

"Well, how would you handle her boobs?" Ruby asked her sister.

"You mean, besides pushing Jaune out of the way first?" snickered Yang. Weiss fought down the urge to get upset. They didn't know what had happened that morning, and it was just their way of riling them up. The blonde continued. "I think what she really needs is some good old fashioned rigid boning."

"So find Jaune again," Ruby caught the send-up perfectly.

"Must you?!" both of the Schnee sisters burst at once, in perfect unison. Ruby and Yang looked startled for a second before they began to cackle.

"Oh my gosh," Yang gasped between laughs. "_Yes._ Messing with one Weiss was fun enough but two?"

"I guess you could say it's _Weiss_ the payoff," Weiss deadpanned. All of the other women turned and stared at her as if she had spontaneously grown a second head. Winter even took a step away from her.

The older Schnee sister shook her head forlornly. "I thought I raised you better than that. _Punning_! For shame, Weiss!"

"... Well, I thought it was funny," Weiss mumbled.

"I'm not angry, I'm just… _disappointed_. Where did I go wrong?"

Yang coughed. "Anyways, let's talk about something less awkward and disturbing, like your sister's breasts."

Winter just sighed.

Undeterred, Yang continued. "Seriously, though, a lot of the outfits she had before…" she eyed Winter with a critical eye that had the Specialist itching to cross her arms over her chest. "I'm guessing you wore those before you grew to your current height and your own breasts fully developed? Like, when you were a little girl?"

"Well…" Winter looked embarrassed.

"I thought so. Don't get me wrong, they were cute and all, but what I think Weiss needs is something that's a little more 'elegant and sophisticated mature Huntress' and less 'pretty ballerina.'"

"But I am a pretty ballerina!" objected Weiss.

Yang waved off her concerns. "Trust me, I know all things boobs. C'mon, let's go find you a top."

The blonde woman pulled Weiss through a series of clothing racks. It was a bit of a more humble experience compared to the high-end Atlas boutiques, but that suited Weiss just fine. She didn't need obsequious sycophants, she needed friends.

They tried on a number of different tops and dresses, before hitting on one that seemed to resonate with Weiss. It was a blue bustier, with a built-in bra with considerable lift to it. Putting it on, Weiss was stunned by the difference that it made. She had cleavage! Her! Cleavage! As in, the valley between breasts! It had a matching bolero jacket, one with a unique high neck that emphasized her slender, graceful build. As they were searching for skirts to pair with the bustier, Weiss decided to ask Yang about what Ozpin had said.

"So," she began. "I was meaning to ask you something."

"If it involves licking chocolate sauce off of me, the answer is definitely yes."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Yang, the way you act, you'd think _you_ were the one with male parts!"

Yang blinked in surprise. Weiss almost never spoke about that, and she certainly didn't _joke_ about that. "What's, uh, what's on your mind, Weiss?"

"Well… you're probably going to think this is insensitive."

Now Yang rolled her eyes. "My dad once suggested I lost some brain cells along with the arm. It was hilarious. Hit me, Weiss-cream cone."

"Very well… with your arm… how did you deal with having a part of your body not under your control? Not as you wanted or needed it to be?"

The bionic blonde flexed her prosthetic thoughtfully in front of the changing room mirror. "You know, you actually kind of helped me there."

"Me? How so?"

"Well, I was feeling kind of bummed about the arm. I mean, it's cool and all, and it works, but it wasn't a part of me, it wasn't _of_ me, you know? And then I thought of how you must have felt all those years living as a boy. You could have just stuck with the role you were handed, but you didn't. You couldn't control everything about your body, but what you _did_ have, you rocked it."

Weiss flushed as Yang continued.

"You really are the girliest out of all of us here, you know that? And that's not because of your body, but it's how you… I don't know, you made it happen despite the body you have. No one else has worked at it the way you have. The rest of us? We were born this way, or at least, with the potential to easily be this way, but you suffered and sacrificed for your art."

Yang nodded. "That's what you are. Your body is art. Every aspect of it has been carefully… crafted to express who you are. So, with my arm, I figured that I could be like you, at least a little, and make the arm more like me. It's why I painted it the way I did. I can't control not having my real arm, just like you can't control having been born with an outie instead of an innie, but I can control what I make of what I do have."

"Did you just refer to genitals as 'innies and outies?!'" Weiss asked incredulously.

"What can I say, I'm a friggin' poet." Yang shrugged. "It's all just squishy bits anyway. So, what's got you asking about this now? I mean, you helped me, even if you didn't know it, so I'm happy to return the favor. It's just kinda odd out of the blue, you know?"

Weiss paused, before deciding to trust in her friend. "You'll keep this a secret?"

"Super secret."

"I… tried to sleep with Jaune this morning."

Yang cocked an eyebrow. "Tried? What went wrong. Do you need me to beat him up?"

"No," Weiss hurried to defuse _that_ potential disaster. "Just the opposite. He was…" despite how it ended, she still found herself smiling and blushing at the memory. "He was _wonderful_. But… I got aroused."

"Yeah, that's kinda what's supposed to happen, at least if it's going right," Yang said slowly. "Not seeing the problem here, Weissicle. Still, good on Vomit Boy."

"Well, it's just… when we were together…" she couldn't quite bring herself to say the words out loud, so she pantomimed the act of rising with her finger. Yang burst out laughing at the sight.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she snickered. "I know it's a very serious conversation, but the _face_ you made as you did that!"

Weiss could only sigh as she waited for Yang to collect herself.

"Well, I'm still not seeing the problem here. What, did he freak out or something?"

"No, he just kept trying to devour my clavicle."

"So _that's _what that mark is!" Yang's face was gleeful. "Weiss, you absolute _fiend!_"

"I couldn't deal with it," Weiss said sadly. "I ordered him to stop, and we got dressed after that. He was very understanding and kind, but… I don't know how to deal with it."

"Who says you need to?" Yang asked.

"What?"

"If you really don't want him seeing your little Schnee-"

"_Please_ don't call it that," Weiss interjected.

"-Then don't show him. Keep your skirt on. Wear pants. Tie him to the bed and just blow him till he passes out, I dunno. Point is, sex doesn't have to be anything you don't want it to be. It's not all or nothing. And I know Jaune is super madly in love with you, so he'll be patient with you while the two of you figure things out."

Weiss contemplated for a moment. Could it really be that simple? She pulled Yang into a hug. "Yang, never believe people when they call you an airheaded bimbo."

"Wait, who's calling me that?!"

"Never you mind, the point is, you're awesome."

Yang made a show of checking her nails, the effect somewhat offset by the fact that she was peering at her robotic hand. "Eh, I know. Can't help it, really."

[/]

That night, Weiss rolled over to find Jaune missing from her bed. Again with this? She pulled on her new outfit, opting for the long skirt to go with it, and made her way out to the courtyard. Sure enough, Jaune was there, silhouetted against the moon with sword in hand. However this time, as she prepared to sit and carry out her vigil, Pyrrha's video came to an abrupt end. Jaune flipped his sword into the sheath and strode over to her. He offered her his hand with a smile.

"What's this?" she asked him.

He pulled her up into his arms, and hit a button on his Scroll remote. The night air was abruptly filled with the beginning bars of the Atlesian waltz from their first date together at the Beacon dance.

"Looking back doesn't have to be all pain, you know," Jaune told her as he swept her into the dance.

As they danced together in the light of the shattered moon, Weiss let go of that morning's failed attempt. There would be other times, she knew. Maybe she had been overthinking things. She was young, in love, and filled with purpose. Did life truly need to be more complicated than that?

**[/]**

**One of the challenges involved in writing about the transgender experience is that there is, by and large, no singular transgender experience that is universally applicable. Some trans people never experience dysphoria, or they experience it differently from how I described it in this chapter. Some experience dysphoria, but are able to work out compromises that enable them to engage in active and fulfilling sex lives without needing GRS, while others absolutely **_**require**_** the surgery in order to have those complete and fulfilling sexual experiences. Still other people are both transgender and asexual, and may experience different levels of dysphoria necessitating different steps of transition for their own self-actualization, which is just as valid. At the end of the day, I could only chart a course and move forward as best as I knew how. Everyone has their own individual needs, and if this Weiss differs from your needs, I beg you to please not take that as suggesting a one-size-fits-all approach to managing dysphoria.**

**Just like in real life, not every attempted sexual encounter is going to be successful. The kicker is in how you manage that. Also, note how Jaune stopped when she told him to. Emulate that IRL. **

**When she isn't being team mom, I feel that Yang is basically a human meme.**

**Careful readers may notice my subtle, understated stage setting of Snowbird in this fic. So subtle. So understated. This is due entirely to me being, at heart, a grown woman playing with dolls and pressing them together, complete with mushy-mush sounds.**

**Just for funsies, here's a brief FAQ:**

**Q: Why did you make a story about a transgender Weiss?**

**A: Because I have something to say for once.**

**Q: Why the focus on muscles and dicks this chapter?**

**A: Author appeal. Next question.**

**Q: Why go into such detail about the process of transitioning itself?**

**A: Because it's fascinating, and also, it might help transgender readers get an idea of what their options may be. Nothing says you need to go through the full suite of options. It's perfectly valid to stop at any point along the way.**

**Q: Do you take story requests?**

**A: I may take story ideas, but I don't work on commission, and God knows my schedule is messed. I have no idea how Coeur Al'Aran consistently puts out so much work while still working full-time. I lost two days writing time to severe migraines and another when my bulldog farted and blasted out the AC.**

**Q: Are you single?**

**A: Yes, but I'm also built like Brienne of Fooking Tarth, so bring that Tormund energy or get the fuck out. Got no time for Jamie Lannisters up in here!**

**Q: Is this the last chapter of "Falling Snow?"**

**A: Hell no! We still have to burn the SDC to the ground, figure out how the **_**fuck**_** I'm going to reconcile Volume 6 with the gang having an airship, and get everybody (except for Ruby and Oscar - because she's ace and he's smol boi) together! See you all in the next chapter!**

**-Mahina**


	7. The Heated Nights of Mistral

**Author's Note: "When lemon?" How about Now-ish? Adult scenes will be demarcated by a series of five brackets [/][/][/][/][/] at the beginning and end, in case you wish to avoid them.**

[/]

In an upstairs hallway, standing before a large window, Winter watched her sister dance in the moonlit courtyard, the younger girl spinning and twirling in the arms of her lover. She couldn't help but sigh a little as she could just make out a contented expression on Weiss's face. It couldn't be helped, she supposed. Grudgingly, she admitted that the boy wasn't so bad. He treated Weiss as if she'd personally hung the stars in the sky, and his reaction to learning that she had been disinherited had been to shrug and offer to teach her how to bargain hunt. Apparently, the circumstances of growing up in a rather large family had instilled him with enviable haggling skills, which he'd said helped keep everyone fed and happy.

Still, Winter couldn't help but feel wistful, as she saw how Weiss naturally fit into an embrace with him. For a girl with personal space issues, she sure made every attempt to be touching the boy as much as possible. A year ago, she might have needed to have words with the boy, words about boundaries and the dire consequences of crossing them, but now? Weiss was legally an adult, and she'd been through a great deal as it was. Now that she was convinced that Jaune Arc wasn't a threat to her little sister via the SDC, Winter supposed it was time to step back and let her handle her own affairs without a big, bad sister-mom sending death glares over her shoulder.

Honestly, it wouldn't be too much longer before Weiss wouldn't really need her at all. Winter was surprised at how the notion made her feel. She had always been proud of her sister's talents, and had worked hard to help her hone them to the finest possible standards. That had taken no small investment in her own time and effort, to such an extent that Winter could divide her life cleanly between Work and Family, with "family" having the meaning of "Weiss." As much as the age difference erected a barrier between herself and Weiss, it was even worse between herself and her only brother, Whitley. She had tried, she really had, but she was near a stranger to the boy, who, on her last attempt to establish a relationship with him, had been more than a little dismissive as to her vocation, going so far as to suggest that military service was "beneath" people of the Schnee stature.

That hadn't gone over well. At all.

Weiss had reported that she hadn't seen Whitley at all during her time in Atlas, though whether that was of his own wishes or the express orders of their father, none could say. Reaching the youngest Schnee sibling would be quite the monumental task. As such, until or unless the situation changed, Winter's personal life would revolve around her sister. She smiled warmly as, in the courtyard, Weiss and her boyfriend had abandoned the waltz in favor of more ridiculous dances, with Jaune holding his two fists ahead of himself with arms straight and alternating up and down, and Weiss making sideways 'v' shapes with her fingers, passing them in front of her eyes like masks. Their giggling carried through the courtyard before Weiss buried her face in his shoulder.

Well. Weiss wasn't _all the way_ grown up just yet. Still, the specter of an imminent onset of Empty Nest Syndrome discomfited Winter. Damn it, she was still much too young to feel that damn old! Irrespective of the validity of her feelings, the situation with her sister nevertheless highlighted how empty her personal life truly was. Winter was proud of the work that she did, and of the soldier she'd become. Anyone trying to force her out of the military lifestyle would have to literally drag her kicking and cursing away. Still, in her life, Winter had colleagues, superiors and subordinates. She hadn't spoken to anyone from her old Atlas Academy team, Team WHTE, in ages. That was one decision where her disdain was mutual on the part of her teammates, who had been ineffectual poseurs at best, and toadies looking to get in good with the SDC at worst. Beyond that, the closest thing she had to a real friend was…

"Uh, hey. What're ya doin'... _woah._"

Winter turned from the window, to see a dusty old crow, looking oddly off-balance for some reason. "Hello, Qrow. Can I help you with something?"

[/]

Qrow had been having a fairly crappy day, even by his standards. Raven sucked. Lionheart sucked. The stupid Spring Maiden sucked. Everything about this mission just _sucked._ So Qrow was in a fairly bad mood as he stomped through the house and trudged up the stairs. He was in _dire_ need of a cold drink, and a shower, in that order. He just kept quiet, to keep his nieces or their little friends from picking up any of the really fun words. Last thing he needed was Ice Queen snapping at him for her dorky little sister learning how to swear like a proper Huntress. Probably best to keep his distance from all and sundry until he could decompress.

He had every intention of doing just that, when he saw Winter looking out a window. What was she doing up here? "Uh, hey, what're ya doin'-" he began, before his brain registered her appearance. Apparently, she had either been sleeping or preparing for bed, as her ubiquitous hair bun had been undone, waves of silvery locks left free to cascade down her nearly-bare shoulders. He wasn't sure how the thin, white satin straps of her short, sleek nightgown were up to the task of holding up her full breasts, but they did their job… their glorious, glorious job. As she turned to regard him, moonlight streamed through the window, imbuing her soft, smooth skin with an ethereal, otherworldly glow.

Now, Qrow had been around the block a couple dozen hundred times, or so he liked to claim in the midst of his inebriated fits of bragging. After all, he was a fairly good-lookin' guy, he had that whole 'brooding, soulful badass with a tragic backstory' thing going for him, and gorgeous women were everywhere in his line of work. But for all the saucy wenches and striking Huntresses, he ain't _never_ seen a woman lookin' like Winter Schnee before. Hell, even Winter Schnee didn't normally look like the straight-up gods-be-damned _vision _that he saw before him.

Shit. His mouth was hanging open like he was some idiot teenager on his first day at Beacon. Qrow needed to say something, and not just gawk at the beautiful woman standing before him.

"Woah."

It could have been worse. Really. He almost, _almost_ blurted out a question asking if she were an angel. Hoo man, there would have been _no_ coming back from that one. In comparison to that, "woah" was downright preferable. Quick, neutral, and not embarrassing in the least.

"Hmm?" As she heard him speak once more, Winter, mistaking what it was that had Qrow so captivated, turned her head to gaze out the window once more. Doing so put her long, graceful neck on full display, the gentle pull of her lines leading down to an expanse of soft, smooth flesh rising in swells under her low-cut nightgown.

Seriously, how had he never, you know, _seen_ the woman this way before? Was he blind?!

"It is a rather beautiful night, isn't it?" she asked him as she gazed up at the shattered moon.

"Yeah… sure," he just managed to croak out.

Winter graced him with one of her extremely rare little laughs, the sound resonating high and clear in crystalline resonance as she resumed watching her wayward little sister. "It seems as though I may need to be tougher on the cadets, if they still have the energy for such late-night excursions."

Qrow gathered himself into some semblance of composure and went to peer out of the window alongside Winter. Sure enough, the princess was with her blonde boyfriend. Ugh, it was like watching Taiyang at work all over again. Still, the girl seemed happy enough, and the boy got to enjoy the continued benefits of drawing breath by not daring to go after Yang or Ruby. Everyone wins, right? Oh, but maybe Winter was worried about that other thing?

He cleared his throat. "You know, maybe you should have a talk with that sister of yours." At her questioning glance, he continued. "I mean, this is important work and all, and you know how teenagers can be, all hormones and bad ideas. Worst case scenario, the mission can't wait nine months, you know?"

Winter turned away from the window and just stared at him for a moment, her jaw hanging open slightly. Qrow raised his hands in supplication. "I'm not sayin' you need to break 'em up or anything. Snowflake looks happy as a peach, but you maybe just throw a condom or two their way, make sure they know not to be dumb about this sort of thing."

After a moment, Winter's expression shifted from stunned disbelief to a sort of bemused curiosity. "You do recall," she began slowly, "that the source of the hostility towards her from Jacques Schnee is that Weiss is transgender?"

"What's that gotta do with this?" Qrow asked, guileless.

Winter pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. "I… wow, Qrow, you really don't know what that word means do you?"

He bristled. "Hey now, I know things. It's just, you know, raised in the woods by bandits. Didn't really have time to learn all the real fancy words." Qrow didn't understand what she was getting at.

Eventually, Winter spoke up again. "It's… well, suffice to say, Weiss can't bear children. Any more than that, you would have to discuss with her. Alternatively, you could always look it up yourself if you're truly curious."

"Huh." Jacques Schnee tried to bump off his own little girl just because she was infertile? Damn, that was low, even by friggin' Jacques Schnee standards. "Well, I guess that explains why you're not worried about a sudden outbreak of little baby Schnees running around. So, if not for that, why have you been trying to make the kid's head explode with your mind whenever you see him with her?"

"You don't think that there could be _other_ possible consequences?" she asked.

"Uh…" After a moment, he shrugged helplessly in defeat. Winter clicked her tongue in irritation, muttering something that may or may not have been "_men!"_ under her breath.

"Tell me, how would you feel if one of your nieces fell for someone, and that someone broke her heart? If someone saw her as nothing more than a warm orifice for the night?"

...Well, when put that way, Qrow suddenly began to feel something akin to guilt for the whole lovin' and leavin' thing. He'd always figured that those gals had to have known what he was about, right? Did any of those barmaids left behind, anonymous as the villages he'd forgotten on the road, did they really think that they would be the one to tie him down to one place? Did any of those Huntresses truly not get that they were just clinging together for comfort for the night before they resumed the fight, or did one or two of them think that they were gonna join him as a more permanent partnership?

Yang had abandonment issues. As it was, she'd been more broken up about her Faunus partner bailing than even the loss of her arm, and the two of them weren't even an item, at least not to Qrow's knowledge. And just the idea of Ruby opening up to someone only to be… _used_ like that…

Qrow felt like quite the dick in that moment. He just hoped that neither of his girls ever had the misfortune to get involved with someone like him.

"Weiss deserves better than an empty bed in the morning," Winter mused, as she saw Weiss be scooped up into Jaune's arms, the boy carrying her bridal style back to the house.

"What about your bed, Ice Queen? Is it empty?" Ah, there was the old Qrow luck, combining with a chronic inability to shut the _goddamn_ hell up. But to his surprise, instead of reacting with a knee to the groin, or even a sharp word about appropriate behavior, Winter pursed her lips and _leaned_ towards him. Almost as if by magic, Qrow leaned in as well, drawn to the practically celestial woman. He closed his eyes for a kiss… and Winter slipped past him to blow gently into his ear, causing him to shiver.

"Wouldn't _you_ like to know?" she whispered huskily, just loud enough for him to hear. And with that, she brushed by him, giving him just the faintest touch of soft, smooth skin before she was past. Qrow stood alone by the window, stunned, as he watched her take her leave. Hips were a fascinating thing, he decided. Simple anatomical feature one moment, work of freaking art in motion the next. Halfway down the hall, Winter stopped at her door and gave him a long look. "Goodnight, mister Branwen," she said. And then, impossibly, she winked at him. She _winked _at him! Before he could even begin to respond, Winter had entered her room and closed the door behind her.

Did that just happen?! Qrow knew for a fact that he wasn't drunk. What if, just maybe, being sober for too long could make a man see impossible things? Was that even a thing? It was easier for Qrow to develop novel theories of neurological science than it was for him to come to terms with _Winter Schnee_, of all people, flirting with him.

After a moment, his jaw set in the familiar grimace that had come to be his default expression over the years. Even if she had been flirting with him, well, she deserved better than a broken old bird like him. First, he was almost twice her age. Winter was twenty-three, and he had just hit the big four-oh. More or less. The tribe wasn't super exact with records, after all. Hell, he was old enough to be her father, albeit he would've had to have been a young one. Even beyond the age gap, there was the rather insurmountable fact that he was kind of a burning dumpster fire of a human being. Winter, that girl was goin' places, but the only place he was goin' was downhill, and fast. It would be the least he could do to have the common courtesy not to drag anyone else down with him. He brought ruin and harm to everyone unfortunate enough to spend any amount of time in his proximity. If he cared at all about Winter, he wouldn't _inflict_ himself on her life.

His head hung low as he shuffled to his own room. Alone in the night, he refilled his flask with a strong whiskey before pulling a draught straight from the bottle. The familiar burn was there, to be sure, but for once, the pull of the booze wasn't enough to make him feel better, even if it was just to numb the strange, gnawing ache deep in his soul. Qrow looked to his own empty bed. Maybe, just maybe, alcohol and duty alone were not enough to sustain a man indefinitely?

[/]

"Weiss, go!"

At Ruby's urging, Weiss summoned a glyph and rocketed past the line of crystalline Beowulves that had taken the courtyard by storm. The morning light glistened from Myrtenaster's gleaming blade as Weiss landed on the far side of the line of summoned Grimm, a satisfied grin spreading on her face. She fully understood Winter's rationale for the extent of the harsh training that she had endured, battling against her summons. Truly, she did. With that being said, now that Weiss could summon constructs herself, well, turnabout was fair play, no?

She spun in place in a graceful maneuver as she drew upon her Semblance to bring forth-

A fist to the side of her head. That wasn't what she summoned, but it surely was what she got, as her older sister, having foreseen the girl's likeliest next move, had rushed her and knocked the younger girl to the ground. The soldier held up her hand to disperse her own summons and to call for a halt before peering down at her sister.

"Weiss, were you trying to sic a summon on me?' she asked sweetly.

Weiss flushed. "I can neither confirm nor deny that supposition," she huffed as she picked herself up off the ground.

"Uh-huh," Winter deadpanned. "I know that you're excited to have learned more of your Semblance, but knowing _how_ to summon is only the very beginning. You still need to learn _when_ to summon. When you attempt a summon, there is a period of time in which you will be vulnerable. While this period can be shortened with training and experience, there has never been a Schnee who has been able to summon without any vulnerabilities whatsoever.." She paused as she observed the disappointed look on Weiss's face. "I know. I felt the same way. But you need to be careful if you're to utilize your abilities to their maximum potential. Be discerning with your summons, or else you'll find yourself overextended and steadily taken apart by enemies that can disrupt your casting."

The Schnee sisters looked over as Ruby and Yang trotted over to join them. "No dice huh?"

"I got punched in the face," Weiss griped.

"Yeah, that's a mood," commiserated Ruby.

Winter casually brushed her shoulder. "Why don't you share what I've told you with your teammates. See if you can find a solution to that vulnerability while I check in on how the other cadets are carrying on," With a nod, the older Schnee woman walked off to where Nora and Oscar squared off while Ren was guiding Jaune through meditative exercises.

"So, what's up?" Yang asked.

Weiss sighed. "To make a long story short, I need to find some way to not get beat up while I channel my summoning ability."

"Hmm," Yang mused. "Have you tried punching?"

"Not every problem can be solved by judicious application of punching, Yang," Ruby admonished her older sister.

"Yeah, that's a lie."

"_Anyway_," Weiss said, annoyed, "do we have any ideas that are actually useful?"

"Well," Ruby began, "It depends on whom you're paired with. It's probably not a good idea to have you go cowgirl on your own."

Weiss frowned. "Are you trying to say that I'm weak?"

"Nah, you're not weak; you're just a Control type," Ruby shrugged.

"...A what?"

"Me and Jaune were talking about our team, and we decided to use MMO terminology. We were surprised by how well it fit."

Wordlessly, Weiss turned to Yang for translation.

"It's a video game thing. Massive Multiplayer Online," the blonde told her.

Weiss crossed her arms and huffed. "This is a serious issue, Ruby," she admonished her partner.

"C'mon, Weiss, just hear me out, and if it still sounds stupid after I explain myself, then you can poke fun at me," Ruby pleaded, giving full puppy-dog eyes.

Damn it. Weiss hadn't kept in practice in ignoring those puppy gazes. "Ugh, fine, go on, let's hear it."

"Well… no one character is good at everything, right? And just like in those games, we each have our own strengths and weaknesses. So, like, for me and Jaune; I'm a DPS specialist, right?" Weiss's blank stare told Ruby that a bit more explanation would, in fact, be required. "Ugh," Ruby groaned. "Damage-per-second! It means I go in fast like boom-pow-wham, and put the smackdown on the bad guys! But Jaune, he's a Tank. Nobody can take a beating like he can, so with his armor, shield and Aura, he holds their attention so I can flank and cut them to pieces!"

Weiss's stance relaxed. A little. She wasn't entirely convinced, but she wasn't throwing anything either, so that was a decent middle ground. "So what do you mean when you say that I'm Control?'

"Nobody can do the kinds of things that you can, Weiss!" Ruby cheered. "Between your Dust and your ability to summon, you take actions that reshape the battlefield entirely, or else restrict the enemy, or put conditions on them to make them easier to beat! It's just that, when you try to fight somebody head-on…" Ruby wrung her hands nervously.

"When you try to fight like a boss, you get your pretty little ass kicked," Yang finished for her sister.

"Yeah." agreed the younger sister.

"What?!" Weiss objected. "I'll have you know that I'm more than capable of handling myself in single combat!" That Ruby just coughed nervously while Yang openly scoffed threatened to send the ex-heiress into a Category 5 Weisstorm. "How _dare_ you pair of reprobates impugn my skills?"

"First of all, I don't know what reprobates are," Yang began. "But secondly, every time you've gone up against someone reasonably competent in a straight-up fair fight, you get ragdolled. Nora _obliterated_ you in seconds in the food fight -"

"That wasn't even a real fight!" interjected Weiss.

Yang gave the argument all the consideration that it merited, which is to say, she ignored it magnificently and carried on as if the other girl hadn't interrupted at all. "At the Vytal Festival, Flynt Coal thrashed you, and didn't even see you as enough as a threat to keep from focusing on me. And even after you'd pushed him into the fire, you hadn't done enough damage to his Aura to knock him out of the fight entirely."

Weiss fumed, but remained silent. That one stung.

"And finally, how many of your Dad's thugs did you take out? And how many did you take out by rocking up on them, Xiao Long style, to win in a brawl?" Yang answered her own question. "Zilch. You used tactics and Dust and tricks to throw them off, mess them up, and _then_ you finished them off."

Ruby jumped in. "Exactly! So all we're saying is, we just need to find a way to properly, erm, synthesize -"

"Synergize," Weiss corrected automatically

"So that we cover each other's weaknesses and boost each others' strengths!" Ruby concluded.

"Because you're a pretty little snowflake that must be protected at all costs," Yang couldn't resist adding.

"Oh, ha-ha." Weiss exhibited the proper manners and impeccable breeding of the Schnee name by sticking her tongue out at Yang, prompting the other two girls to break out into laughter. Once they had recovered, she turned to Ruby. "So, I suppose your premise isn't _entirely_ without merit - " Weiss-talk for _you have convinced me, but I don't want to admit you were right _\- "So what are some specific tactics that we can implement?"

Ruby rubbed her chin. "Well, that depends on who you're working with at the time. Since we're partners, I would probably emphasize mobility to reposition you somewhere to where you have enough time and space to bring the Boom. Yang's like a rocket, you just point her at the bad guys and stand behind her while she wreaks havoc. Jaune's probably going to want to stick close to you if he can, so he should try to engage with as many enemies as possible, or just one strong one, and play defensive until you do your thing. With Blake,"

"We don't need to waste time planning for people who aren't here," Yang said. The unusually cold tone with which she had said it took both of her teammates by surprise.

"I mean, just because she isn't here now-" Ruby offered.

Yang turned to leave. "It's no use, Ruby. She made her choice, and _she isn't coming back_." With that, she stormed off. Weiss looked between her retreating form and the crestfallen look on her partner's face.

"I'll go talk to her," Ruby offered.

Weiss shook her head. "No, I'll do it. I've… well, I've had some experiences that have helped put things into perspective. Yang helped me, so it's only fair to return the favor." With a nod, she made to follow Yang.

After a second, Ruby frowned as a thought occurred to her. "Wait!" she called out. "What am I supposed to say to your sister?"

"Call it a team-building exercise?"

"Aw man," Ruby turned away, grumbling. She knew from bitter experience just how hard it was to fast-talk one of the Schnee sisters.

[/]

Yang sat alone on her bed, quietly fuming. Blake was gone. Why couldn't anyone else see that? People don't just _come back_ once they've decided to abandon you, because if they loved you and cared about you enough to come back, they wouldn't have decided to abandon you in the first place, right?

Or maybe Yang couldn't bear to get her hopes up once more, only to see them crushed again. Just like with her mother. And just like with Raven Branwen. She didn't think her heart could take it. She sighed as she heard a knock and the door swung open. Ruby meant well, she always did, but she didn't know how messed-up the world could truly be. "Ruby, I'm sorry, could you just-"

She stopped and looked up as Weiss cleared her throat. "Weiss? What are you doing here?" The white-haired girl's heels clicked on the wood floor as she quietly moved to sit on the bed opposite of Yang. She regarded the blonde for a long moment, long enough for Yang's frustration to rise to the surface.

"Look Weiss, I know she's our teammate, but you don't just abandon someone and expect everything to be okay! We have to come to terms with the fact that she isn't coming back."

"You don't know that, " Weiss quietly pointed out. "Sometimes, people need time and distance to figure things out."

"You wouldn't know anything about it," snapped Yang. "You've never been abandoned!"

Weiss looked to her foot, which she idly spun around just off the ground. "At my tenth birthday party, my father announced that he never loved my mother, and he only married her as a way to claim the Schnee name and fortune. My mother, she just… gave up. Winter was a teenager, while Whitley and I were just children. She _knew_ what kind of man he was. She _knew_ what he was doing to the company, to the world, and to our family. But she chose to lose herself in drink. She chose to numb herself over fighting to protect our family name, over Jacques' victims, and… over us."

Yang looked to her hands, unsure what to say as Weiss dabbed a tear from her eye. After a moment to collect herself, Weiss continued. "But here's what else happened, Yang. At the very end, when she realized that I was in danger, she did everything she could to make sure I got away. It cost her her life. It didn't erase the years of abandonment, or make everything okay, but I know that in the end, she loved me. My mother _loved_ me, Yang."

She heard Yang stand up and cross over to her, pulling her into a tight embrace. After a moment, the blonde chuckled. "And the winner, and _still_ undisputed Worst Mom in the World, Raven Branwen!" she muttered bitterly.

"Hooray," Weiss snarked as Yang let her go and plopped heavily down next to her. "So here's where this whole story becomes relevant to a point about you and Blake. I've had people die for me, Yang. My mother. A group of Faunus dock workers who interfered with one of my father's death squads. It's… it's a horrible feeling. And," she said, forestalling an incoming objection from her teammate, "before you tell me that it isn't my fault, keep in mind that there's a difference between understanding that rationally, and fully realizing it in your heart."

Weiss smiled sadly up at Yang. "Blake always tried to keep us safe from her past. She always put up barriers between us and her. And the moment those barriers dropped, her absolute worst fears came true. I can't say that what she did was the _right_ choice, but I can understand why she made it."

"How does abandoning your friends make any sense?" asked Yang.

"Do you know what my escape plan was, before those men cornered me outside Mistral?"

"No, what?"

"I didn't know where Winter was, so I was going to try to make it to Patch," Weiss admitted. "I thought you would still be convalescing, and with you there, Ruby would be there too. And where half of Team RWBY was, Jaune would be close by, and of course, where there's Jaune, Ren and Nora would be too. I even thought your father and uncle might help."

Yang smiled. "You know, I'm almost sorry that that didn't work out. Dad's always been super protective of little girls. He would've kicked six different colors of crap out of those guys."

"Still," Weiss continued, "I felt… guilty about running to you guys for protection. About putting more people, people I care deeply for, into harm's way. I mean, I know I didn't really have a lot of options - I sure wasn't looking forward to being raped and murdered - but the guilt was… _is_, still there."

"Yeah, no, _fuck that,_" Yang swore. "Someone comes after you, you _absolutely_ come to us. I will totally have Ruby make that a standing order, complete with puppy dog eyes."

Weiss laughed. "That sister of yours is a menace," she said. Her smile faded before she continued. "So, when Blake ran away from us… in her own, messed-up kind of way, I think she was trying to _protect_ us." As she saw Yang begin to stir up again, she held up a hand in placation. "She obviously made a mistake, and we'll have to talk about her _breathtakingly _overinflated sense of importance at some point, but I think that what she did came from a place of love. When I think of how I felt with my father's men after me, and how she must feel with the White Fang after _her_… well, I think she was very brave."

There was a long and pregnant pause, before Yang responded. "And stupid," she finally said.

"Brave and stupid," Weiss agreed. "Kind of like Jaune."

"Brave to the point where the line between courage and stupidity blurs."

Weiss went in for the kill. "Which is why we're in love with them."

"Yeah," Yang started to agree, before she shook her head vehemently, accidentally slapping Weiss with her long blonde hair. "Wait, what?! I'm not in love with Blake!" she protested.

Weiss just stared at her.

"...Well, I'm not," she mumbled weakly, unable to meet Weiss's gaze. Not even she believed herself.

The white-haired girl just patted her friend on the back. "That's why I'm sure that when she comes back, you'll be able to forgive her. It may not be easy, but you will. And Ruby and I will be here for you both."

As if by magic, after her name was invoked, Ruby knocked on the door once before opening it. "Hey, um, are you guys okay?"

Weiss looked to Yang, who, after a moment's thought, gave her little sister a nod. "Yeah, Ruby. I think we'll be okay."

[/]

With so many teenagers in the house, dinner was always a boisterous affair, with loud talking, boasts, cheers and laughter rising over the clinking of dishes and utensils. Ruby and Yang were cheerily telling their uncle of the progress they'd made in their training under Winter. For his part, Qrow was more or less paying attention while discreetly observing the Atlesian soldier as she held court at the other end of the table. Her sister was there, seated next to Jaune, and across from them, the two orphan kids. What were their names again? Thunder Thighs and Windfist the Destroyer?

...Okay, probably not, but they were kind of boring anyway, so Qrow derived his own amusement from watching Winter struggle to deal with socialization with the kid sister's friends. Winter probably never had to interact with a teenager that wasn't either her own sibling or some Atlas cadet, so seeing her deprived of her ability to simply order them to shut up, follow orders, and never speak to her without cause was pretty funny.

"I mean, she's all right, sure, but no one teaches the rougher side of the job like you, Qrow," Yang was saying.

He felt the urge to preen, just a little. "Well, you know, it's like I said; one day out here is worth ten in an academy."

"And that rules are for fools, and love is for suckers!" Yang chirped brightly.

Qrow's eyes went wide. "Uh, hey now kiddo,"

"And the best way to deal with disappointment is a barmaid with long legs and a short skirt!" Ruby added, with a huge smile on her face.

"Woah, hey, you, uh, _shush,_" he held a finger to his lips as his eyes darted back and forth. Thankfully, Winter was busy trying to calm down Thunder Thighs, so she wasn't paying attention to their end of the table. He pulled in Ruby and Yang into a conspiratorial huddle. "Listen, you keep that stuff on the down-low, okay?" He hissed quietly. "Especially around Ice Queen and her sister."

Ruby's eyes narrowed dangerously with suspicion. Times like that, she reminded him of her mom so much that it was like getting stabbed in the gut. "...Why?"

"It's a professional Huntsman thing, protocol, you know?"

"...Didn't you throw up on Miss Goodwitch's shoes that one time?" Yang asked.

Shit, _did he_? Maybe he could stand to cut down on the drinking a little.

"Wait…" Yang continued, her lilac eyes gleaming with mischief. "Do you have a _thing_ for Weiss's sister?"

Qrow scoffed, awkwardly. "What? Me and the Ice Queen? No, don't be stupid."

"That's good," Ruby said. "Because if you _did_, and somehow thought that keeping us quiet would keep her from knowing that you're a womanizing alcoholic, you would have to be in _serious_ denial."

...Okay, _ow._ It was one thing for him to come to terms with his bad behavior himself, and quite another for little Ruby to be so blunt about it. Apparently, he took too long to formulate a coherent response, as Ruby flopped heavily back onto the bench, giving a little "Mhm," in satisfaction.

Qrow looked back and forth, between the identical smug grins that both of those girls and threw up his hands in frustration. "You're both crazy. Delusional. Bugnut batshit certifiable, and I'm leaving." He stood up, swaying slightly - from how quickly he stood, mind you, not due to anything he may or may not have imbibed! - and headed towards the door. To his surprise, he was met there by Winter who also appeared to be fleeing.

"Yes, that's right!" she declared with artificial volume, clearly meant to be heard. "We must attend to our planning for… the thing!"

"The thing?" he asked, confused.

"_Shut up and go along with it,"_ she hissed.

Qrow was many things, but stupid was not one of them. Most of the time, anyway. "Ah, yes, the thing!" he said, matching Winter's earlier tone. "Uh, best we got on that, right away!"

They didn't quite _run away_ from the room full of snickering teenagers as much as they… walked at a brisk pace. A _very_ brisk pace. So brisk, in fact, that Branwen stumbled a bit, forcing Winter to grab onto his arm to keep him upright.

The silence in the dining room was only broken by the muffled chuckling of the kids, before Oscar loudly sipped his bowl of soup. "There is no thing," Ozpin said, causing the kids to finally burst out into open laughter.

[/]

"Must you slurp like a savage?" Winter asked. Weiss had asked her to sit with her other friends from that other team. They were… _interesting_, to say the very least. The orange-haired girl flitted about like a hummingbird, zipping to and fro both physically and mentally, always needing to be doing _something_. The black-haired boy had seemed to be pleasantly reserved on first impression, only for Winter to be disturbed by his almost inhuman calm, as if he had been lobotomized, or something.

Compared to those two, Jaune had seemed both normal and, dare she say it, pleasant. Truly, the end was nigh. At any rate, the girl Nora had displayed appalling table manners, and while Winter knew that not everyone could live up to Schnee standards, it was her duty to educate the common folk. Sometimes, her sense of _noblesse oblige_ surprised even herself. It must be from where Weiss had learned her strong sense of compassion and justice.

"Yep," Nora answered, before draining her entire bowl of soup in one long, loud slurp. The fact that no one else at the table, not even Weiss, so much as batted an eye at this behavior told Winter that this was an everyday occurrence. Clearly, some intervention was required.

Nora belched loudly before slumping in her seat and patting her stomach with satisfaction.

"Your mother must be so proud of your manners," Winter muttered. The other teens at that end of the table stiffened, except for Nora herself.

"I dunno," Nora said offhandedly. "I never knew my mother. Earliest memories _I_ have involve rummaging through the trash for food, begging people for food, just being hungry in general. You know, typical kid stuff."

Oh crap.

"I mean, maybe I can hope that my parents, whoever they were, loved me and something happened to them. That's what happened to Renny's parents. We were orphans, going from place to place, keeping each other safe. Didn't really have much time to learn fancy eating manners when you don't, you know, _have food_." Nora's face fell, her voice turning despondent. "Or maybe my parents knew that I was just going to be some crazy hammer girl with bad table manners, and they just left me somewhere for the Grimm to eat, because they didn't want me!"

This. _This_ was why Winter didn't socialize. Somehow, 'Come sit and eat with my friends, big sister,' had morphed into her inadvertently taunting an orphan girl over her absent, probably dead, parents. Perhaps for her next trick, she could drop kick puppies, or light children with leukemia on fire.

The quiet boy had wrapped Nora in a hug. From over her shoulder, he fixed Winter with a steady glare. From a boy with all of the emotional range of a particularly stoic stump, this was an open display of just how wroth he was. Jaune reached across the table and patted Nora's arm, while just shaking his head at Winter. Even Weiss had crossed her arms and fixed her with a supremely unimpressed look, one that just screamed _fix it!_

At the other end of the table, she could see Qrow huddled in close communication with his nieces. For all of his faults, the man _did_ have a way with people. He could probably help bail her out of the situation, but alas, he was too far situated from her to be of assistance.

"Ahem," Winter coughed awkwardly. "I apologize if I have given offense, Miss Valkyrie. I was… unaware of your personal history upon making that comment. "

Nora shrugged and accepted what was left of Jaune's bowl of soup. "No ifs about it, lady. That's probably why you shouldn't make comments like that in the first place." That was Nora, as blunt as her hammer. She lifted her spoon to her lips and deliberately took a long slurp. "Still, since you're teaching us all these other things, maybe you can teach me those manners too. We could make an exchange!" she snapped her fingers as the idea came to her. "You can teach me how to eat all fancy-pants, and I can teach _you_ how not to be a meanie that looks down on people!"

Whelp. This was not going well for Winter. She could practically _feel_ the waves of disapproval emanating from her little sister. How? How had things gone so wrong?!

"Actually," Ren pointed out mildly, "in Southern Mistral, slurping your soup is the accepted way of demonstrating your appreciation to the cook, myself in this case. Though the burp was all Nora."

Winter tried not to gape like a fish.

"And we wouldn't have it any other way," Jaune said.

"Wow," Nora said with exaggerated whimsy. "It's almost as if Atlas manners aren't the only kind of manners in the world! Guess you didn't know as much as you thought you did, huh? Looks like I won't need your help after all. Still, _my_ offer stands."

One could practically hear the proverbial pin drop.

Weiss covered her face with her hands. "Nora, I'm _so sorry_ for her behavior."

Wait, _Weiss_ was apologizing on _her_ behalf?

"I mean, you didn't do it," Nora pointed out. "But it does explain a lot about how you used to act when we all first met."

"Indeed."

Well. The last time Winter had lost control of a conversation that badly, she had tried to stab Qrow in the middle of the Beacon courtyard. She had been rhetorically outmaneuvered and effortlessly crushed by a hyperactive teenage girl. Yes, Winter believed she was just about done there. Looking around for any way out, she saw Branwen making his way to the door.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to, erm…" Unable to think of a decent excuse, she simply got up and left the table without another word.

[/]

The young Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training, having sufficiently embarrassed their main minders for one evening, took the opportunity to enjoy some R&R. Jaune and Ruby were showing Oscar the new game that they had as they hooked their Scrolls to the main tv, with Yang occasionally calling out outrageously incorrect instructions from the couch, mainly to see if she could trick any of the three into going on a search for a "tricoaxial onput/offput cable," or somesuch nonsense. Ren had claimed that he would try and beat "his own high score" in his favored hobby, napping. When Weiss had asked how one kept score in taking a nap, he had simply flopped onto the couch next to Yang and had fallen asleep instantly. That left Weiss and Nora sipping hot chocolate - no coffee for Nora, ever! - on a pair of recliners.

"You're sure you aren't angry about what my sister said?" Weiss asked.

"Nah. She just needs to get the stick out of her butt." Nora gave a wicked smile to her friend, timing her next statement perfectly. "Kind of like how Jauney went and found yours."

Weiss sputtered and choked on her chocolate, culminating in a very unladylike snort. "Ugh… I think I ate a marshmallow through my nose," she griped.

Ruby gasped. "That's amazing! Do you know what this means? We aren't just super-besties-better-than-the-resties, we're nose eating buddies too! Somebody get me a cookie!"

_"No."_ Weiss fixed the younger girl with a stare of such intensity that even the other mystical power of her eyes, the dreaded puppy dog stare, was powerless before it. "Aww man," Ruby muttered, before turning back to her game.

"And you," Weiss turned to Nora.

"Nora!"

Weiss's eye twitched. "I don't know what you were insinuating, with such a comment as that."

"I don't know what that word means."

Her eye twitched once more. What made it even more galling is that she believed it, too. "Anyways, my sister isn't… _the best_ with people, but she means well."

"Oh, I know. She's like a bigger you, that has the hots for Ruby and Yang's uncle."

"I knew it!" crowed Yang.

"That is not even remotely true!" Weiss protested. Then she thought about it for a moment. "I mean, that isn't… likely to be true?"

Nora sipped her chocolate. "If that's the case, then what do you think they're doing right now? After they ran off? Together?"

[/]

"Qrow, I'm a terrible person!" lamented Winter.

"You? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I've won sleazebag of the year already."

Winter cocked an eyebrow, "I managed to turn a simple dinner conversation into bitterly haranguing an underfed orphan about her deceased mother. Weiss was so disappointed in me!"

"Ha! You think that's bad? My own niece, the younger one, the one that sees the good in everyone? She called me an alcoholic womanizer." Qrow shook his head forlorn. "You don't get it, you've got to be a real piece of shit for Ruby to call you out on it."

"Have you tried cutting back on the drinking?"

"Why not the drinking _and_ the womanizing?"

Winter smirked. "I suspect the one leads to the other. Without being sauced out of your mind, you wouldn't even know what to do with a woman."

"Yeah, I'mma call bullshit on that, Ice Queen. I get even better when I'm sober."

She laughed in his face. "Somehow I doubt that."

He stood up and spread his arms in challenge. "Oh yeah? I haven't had a drink in five hours."

"Wow, an entire five hours, _however_ do you cope?"

"I'm a man of many talents," he bragged.

She stood up as well. "Prove it."

He glared at her.

She glared at him.

And then they were on each other.

[/]

"Whatever it is that they're doing, I'm sure that it's entirely mundane," Weiss declared as the two girls brought their mugs into the kitchen.

"Eh, you're probably right," Nora said blandly. She smiled as she watched Ren rolled around on the couch like an overgrown Kung Fu puppy.

"How can he sleep so much?" asked Weiss.

"It's the secret to his mystical powers," Nora said, so smoothly and effortlessly thar Weiss couldn't tell if she was being serious or not. "Hey," she said, her voice suddenly soft. "Has Jaune been sleeping okay?"

Weiss sighed. "It's been better the past few nights, but he still gets up in the middle of the night, every night, to go train with… with Pyrrha." She felt Nora's hand on her arm.

"Thank you for making sure he isn't alone out there anymore," Nora said. "It may not seem like it, but you really are making a difference."

"I try," Weiss sighed. "I just wish there was some way to _make _him get a full...night's… sleep…" Weiss trailed off as an idea occurred to her. It was a bold idea. It was a bad idea. It was a _Yang_ idea.

"What's up, Snowcone?" Nora asked, puzzled.

"Oh, just… thoughts," she said. "I'm going to go make sure Jaune goes to bed early tonight."

"Oh, okay," Nora shrugged. "Whatever it is you're doing, I hope it works."

"Me too, Nora." With that, Weiss padded back into living room, sitting on the floor next to Jaune. Lightly, she traced a finger up along his forearm. "Jaune, why don't you give Oscar a turn."

"Hmm?" Jaune turned to see her, only to come against Weiss's own mystical powers of girlfriend bedroom eyes.

"I have a… _project_ that I could use your help with. Upstairs?" she suggested.

Jaune blinked, dumbstruck for a moment, before he pulled the cord out of his Scroll with startling speed. "Oscar, you're up, gotta go, bye!"

As she took his arm in hers, Weiss saw Yang give her a bionic thumbs-up from the couch.

**[/][/][/][/][/]**

Weiss led Jaune by the hand to their room, closing the door behind them a locking it with a definitive click. Releasing his hand, she took two steps away from him before turning on her heel and fixing him with her "serious business" look.

"Jaune."

"Yes?"

She fidgeted with her hands. "I would like for you to... accompany me into the shower," she began.

"Kay." Jaune immediately began working the latches of his armor.

"Ahbupup, hold on a second, cowboy." Despite herself, his enthusiasm for being with her brought a smile to her lips before she settled down. "I need you to not look at me... down there," she told him. "It's important. I… I think that you _seeing_… that part of me sets off the dysphoria."

Jaune gave her a nod. "Okay. Whatever you need."

"What I need right now is you," Weiss told him, striding back to him and pulling him into a deep and passionate kiss. She moaned happily as he slipped her a little tongue and boldly slid a hand under her skirt to grab a handful of her rear. With a practiced hand, Weiss began to undo Jaune's armor. His cuirass hit the floor, followed shortly by her bolero. His gauntlets were set down on the windowsill, alongside her sash. His hoodie on a chair. Her bustier thrown somewhere. A well-worn pair of jeans crumpled at the foot of the bed, alongside a blue pleated skirt. Heavy armored boots stood empty alongside a delicate pair of high heels. A pair of blue boxer shorts. White satin Vale-cut panties.

"Eyes up."

"Always," Jaune reassured her. As much as he truly longed to see all of her naked before him, he wanted to make her feel comfortable and safe far more. Besides, while she was always shorter than him, without her shoes on, she stood even shorter relative to him. She truly was a tiny doll of a woman. He chuckled to himself as such a small girl grabbed his wrist and dragged him bodily towards the shower.

"What's so funny?" she asked him.

"I just keep getting taken off guard by how much I love you," he replied.

Weiss turned on the shower and then practically shoved him inside, pressing against his chest as the water began to steam. "Good answer," she purred. Despite the heat, she shivered as Jaune ran the rough fibers of a soapy washcloth over her bare back. Strong, sure hands worked up and down her back, massaging and exploring as much as they cleansed. She gasped and tossed her head back as he zipped a single finger all the way up her spine, from her tailbone up to the nape of her neck, causing her fingers to spasm. Jaune could feel her arousal as that part of her stiffened and rose to press against his own, but wisely, he kept silent and kept his gaze locked on Weiss's crystal blue eyes. Instead, he gently took her by the shoulders and spun her around to face away from him.

For her part, Weiss resolved to try and ignore any feelings of anxiety about her body's reaction to her boyfriend's ministrations. She could feel his own cock pressing against her; even in the heat of the shower, it felt like a burning hot iron nestled against her butt. Jaune's hands hungrily roamed her torso, scrubbing and teasing and caressing her. After one hand swiped the rough cloth across her breasts, the other followed to trace their swelling curves and mischievously tweak a rosy pink nipple into standing at attention.

She stifled a giggle as she realized that Jaune had gone back to shamelessly groping her backside. It seemed as though a certain someone had a predilection for a well-formed gluteus. He pulled another gasp from her by sliding a finger down her crack and teasing the crinkled bud of her anus. Weiss had read about anal play, mainly the proper hygienic and lubrication procedures in case she ever wanted to let her lover in the backdoor, but the sensation of someone's finger toying with such a sensitive and taboo place made it so very real.

"Weiss? Do you want me to?" He asked for permission.

"Jaune…." She nodded.

Her mouth fell open slightly as he slid his finger into her, and she fell forward, catching herself against the shower wall. "Are you okay?" Jaune asked her.

She nodded. "It's... weird. But a good weird. Keep going," she ordered.

Jaune slowly began to work his finger in and out of her, pumping her body back and forth. Weiss began to pant and moan at the sensation; it felt as though he were trying to push her genitals out from the inside. Her mind boggled at the intensely erotic realization that she could feel a part of him deep inside of her, probing her, _penetrating_ her.

It was at the same time that she reconciled herself to wanting to take all of him inside of her that Jaune's digit pressed onto something hard inside of her body. Weiss let out a deep, low groan as she felt him rub against her prostate. As her panting picked up speed, practically hyperventilating, Jaune reached around her hips with his other hand. He lightly wrapped his fingertips around the shaft of her penis, and began to use his thumb to strum the top of the sensitive head as if it were an instrument. She tossed her head back, resting against his chest.

"Is this okay?" He whispered into her ear.

"Don't you dare stop."

"Yes, ma'am!"

A pressure built inside of Weiss, with each delving thrust and with each stroke of Jaune's calloused thumb onto her. It built from deep inside of her, the core of her being, until it boiled over. A series of gasping, squeaking sounds erupted from her. Her knees shook, a hot, nearly-clear fluid oozed from the tip of her penis, and she clenched down so hard around Jaune's finger that she damn near broke it.

Weiss Schnee had her first orgasm.

As she came down from her ecstatic high, her first coherent thought was _Oh. So that's what all the fuss is about._ Her second thought was the realization that Jaune must have caught her as she had lost control, and had set her down carefully to rest on the floor of the shower. He had quickly soaped himself up and was rinsing himself off, turning off the shower before turning to her.

"Hey. You okay there? That looked pretty intense." He certainly looked pleased with himself, not that she could blame him. If she weren't so certain that Winter would murder first him and then her, she would run through the house and literally sing of his achievements in foreplay. Still, she had a head for numbers, and she knew that two could foreplay at this game.

In her excitement and lust, she had forgotten to feel anxious or ashamed of her body.

Following what must have been the quickest, most vigorous toweling-off session in Remnant's history, Weiss pulled Jaune into their bedroom and practically shoved him onto the bed. She grabbed her sash from where it lay strewn across the windowsill and slid up Jaune's body to straddle his chest.

"What's going to happen now," she began, as she tied his wrists together and then over his head, to the bedpost, "is that I'm going to bestow such unbelievable pleasure on you that you'll have no choice but to actually sleep through the whole night to recuperate."

"Is that right?" Jaune challenged.

"Indeed," promised Weiss. "But just in case it's too much to handle and you find yourself needing to surrender to me, the safeword is..."

Jaune could see a positively wicked smile spread across her face before she leaned in to blow into his ear. "_Snow Angel,_" she whispered. With that, she kissed his cheek, then his jaw, working her way down his chest and along his oblique muscles and abs, kissing down and down and down...

She took him into her mouth, making sure to maintain eye contact. There would be no mistake in his mind about exactly who was going to do this to him. Distantly, she wondered why some people found the act of giving oral sex to be somehow inherently degrading. The act itself was less important than the fact that she was performing it on the man she loved. That man had touched all of her, not in clinical interest or disgust, but because he loved and desired her.

Weiss also thrilled to note how she could make him react to her. With just a quick lick flick trick, she could make his abs flex and his eyes roll back into his head. If she could take his entire length -

"Ack!"

Okay, her ambition may have outstripped her ability in that instance, as she gagged before progressing more than halfway down. Jaune hissed as she accidentally scraped her teeth along his skin, as she pulled away from him to take a deep breath.

"I'm sorry," she said, giving it a little kiss to make it better. "It's just hard for me to fit my mouth around this thing."

Jaune got an oddly happy little grin on his face. "Really?"

_Oh_ _right_, Weiss thought. _Men like hearing things like that._ She didn't know how much of her difficulty was due to Jaune being big or to her being small - she didn't much care, as it wasn't as if she had much of a frame of reference on the matter, and she wasn't about to go looking for other partners - but if anyone needed an extra shot of confidence, it was her boyfriend. Still, in fairness, he _did_ have her rethinking the feasibility of that whole "take all of Jaune via anal sex" idea that she'd had earlier in the shower.

"Yes," she told him. "It's just so... big and thick!" With that, she went back to her more restrained attempts, compensating for her inability to accommodate all of his length with skillful application of her slender fingers. She stroked along the tender ligaments forming the base of his shaft, tickled the skin of his abs and ribs, and cupped the fleshy sack containing his testicles. _Okay_, she thought to herself, _Minor choking episode aside, everything's going excellently, as expected. Truly, he has _no _chance._

As if he could hear her thoughts, Jaune suddenly stiffened. "Weiss," he groaned.

_Yeah that's right. Say my name._

"I'm gonna…"

_Gonna what, stud? Fall to your knees and worship your magnificent wanton sex goddess of a girlfriend?_

"I'm gonna…"

_Beg me for my favor every night from now on?_

As it turns out, Jaune did neither of those fanciful notions. Weiss felt a sudden surge in him as she flicked her tongue along his length, before, with a heavy moan, he released into her mouth. She had a brief moment of panic as hot, salty fluid flooded over her tongue. In the heat of the moment, she may or may not have forgotten that men did that. Still, she recalled two of Winter's lessons, although she doubted that her older sister had meant for them to apply in these particular circumstances. The first was "when in doubt, go for a power move." The second, which Winter had drilled into her for over a decade was simply "a lady does not spit."

With those aphorisms in mind, Weiss looked Jaune dead in the eye and, with an audible gulp, swallowed down all of the seed he'd left in her mouth, with all the lewd confidence as if that had been her plan from the beginning. As he stared at her, she crawled up his body once more, the wild look in her eye free and unrestrained. With lips still sticky with his seed, she ran her fingers into his hair and hungrily captured his lips. Jaune was slightly dazed as she finally pulled back for breath.

"So," she panted, "ready for the next round?"

"Next round?" Jaune echoed, incredulous.

"Mmhm," confirmed Weiss, as she idly ran her fingers across his chest. "Until you pass out or say the safeword."

Jaune blinked. "I am both aroused and afraid," he admitted.

"That is the appropriate response." She winked as she made her way back down his body.

**[/][/][/][/][/]**

They lay awake in the bed, neither one facing the other. Facing their partner would have meant facing their own doubts, and they weren't quite ready to do that. For Winter, the path was brand new, full of unknown factors that both excited and frightened her. Her first time was with a man she would have never been caught dead with a year ago, and yet, there she was. For once she had taken the riskiest path, the one barely clear at all, with hazards both emotional and physical.

Had she made a mistake, choosing _him_ as her first lover?

Winter knew more than anyone just how fallible she truly was.

For Qrow, the path was old and well-worn, filled with pains and regrets that were as familiar to him as broken-in boots. But along that old, lonesome road, there was a single branching path, one scarcely remembered, one he'd only ever traveled down once. A time that had left him a broken old bird.

Did he dare go down that path again? Would she go down it with him?

Did he even want her to?

Everyone knew just how fallible Qrow was.

[/]

They curled asleep together in bed, her head across his chest, his arms around her slender shoulders. She had used her charms, her skills, and her body to lull him into restful slumber, overwhelming him into dropping the burden of guilt that had threatened to break him, even if it were only for a night. The steady beating of his heart had lain down a solid foundation to her world of flux and chaos. Even in the depths of her sleep, it reassured her that there was a man who saw her as she truly was. Through its deep rhythm, she was able to love herself the way he loved her, even if it were only for a night.

Weiss dreamt of changing the world. She imagined a world of innovation and change, a world where she would come home to him every night, and know as a certainty that her struggles had all been worth it.

Jaune dreamt of giving her the world. She had already made his worth the living.

They were young, and still hopeful despite the traumas that they had endured. Together in body and soul, all was right to them.

Even if it were only for a night.

[/]

As the morning sun streaked through the window, Jaune woke up with a genuine smile on his face for the first time in almost a year. He took his time and stretched like a cat, barely containing his contented groan on account of the sleeping Snow Angel that lay next to him. With her head resting on his chest, he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Jaune Arc felt pretty friggin' _spectacular._

Was it the first full night's sleep since the Fall of Beacon? Was it the mind-shattering sex that had preceded it?

Honestly, they probably both had something to do with it.

He smiled down at the girl he had given his heart to. It was amazing how the same woman could be both an angelic figure of sweetness and love one moment, and a wanton, shameless sexual dynamo the next. He put his odds at fifty-fifty for her actually killing him one day, but _man_, he couldn't imagine a better way to go.

She stirred into wakefulness, imitating his earlier actions by stretching. For neither the first time nor the last, Jaune wondered what good deed he must have done to deserve the love and affection of this tiny pale miracle he saw in the wan light of the dawn.

She looked up at him. He raised an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes as he initiated the running joke that they had done every morning that they had woken up together.

He kissed her.

"Blech! Morning breath! You go and brush your teeth right now, Jaune Arc!"

"Yes, dear."

He saw her smile fondly at him as he trudged into the bathroom.

[/]

As the morning sun streaked through the window, Qrow Branwen woke up alone.

He figured it was for the best. That girl's goin' somewhere, and him? He was goin' nowhere but downhill, and fast. Besides, it wasn't like he didn't have it comin'. Figured it was a fair down payment on all the women ever woke up with him missin' from their beds.

He swished around a mouthful of truly awful booze to kill the taste in his mouth. Seemed like every day, he needed to make it stronger and stronger to get the same old feeling.

**[/]**

**Chapter Endnotes: Well. That was a thing. First time writing out a full-on sex scene. I hope it went okay.**

**Just because Snowbird is going down, doesn't mean it will be easy. That's a damned rocky road to walk down. Maybe their girls will be able to help?**

**Weiss is getting training, advice, and alterations to her mindset. Will this mean that her long streak of getting destroyed will come to an end? Tune in to find out?**

**Just because Nora is silly, that doesn't mean she isn't smart.**

**I hope you enjoyed it, leave a review if you're so inclined. Thanks for reading, and see you in the next chapter!**

**-Mahina**


	8. The Knight, Weiss, and the Maiden

**Author's Note: Chapter contains violence and profanity. Also, headbutting and Wing Chun. To the anonymous reviewer who thoughtfully appreciated the sex scene in the previous chapter but felt discomfitted by the Winter/Qrow ship… erm, sorry?**

**[/]**

Let the record show that, under no circumstances, did Winter Schnee "panic."

If she told herself that a few more times, maybe she would believe it.

She sat at the table nursing a steaming mug of coffee, black as night and potent enough to burn through a Boarbatusk's hide, the classic morning drink of choice for soldiers throughout history. On one hand, she felt embarrassed by her impulsive decision the previous night. Winter couldn't blame it on alcohol, as neither she, nor, for once, Qrow, had had any. Without any mood altering substances in the picture, _what in all the world_ had convinced her to take Qrow Branwen, of all people, to bed?

On the other hand… well….

_Admit it_, she imagined her impulsive side speaking to her, _ it wasn't all bad._ She was annoyed to discover that the wild, tempestuous part of her even sounded like him.

It wasn't wrong, though.

Before the previous night, if one had asked her what sleeping with Qrow Branwen would be like - and she hadn't either fallen over laughing or summarily stabbed whoever asked her that question - Winter would have imagined the experience to be preceded by a great deal of boasting, followed by a very brief interlude of highly unsatisfactory, grunt-filled thrusting, all concluding with him passing out in a drunken stupor on top of her. She wouldn't have imagined rough stubble tickling her skin as he kissed a line down to the hollow of her throat, and she _certainly_ wouldn't have imagined the way that he looked at her as she pushed him onto his back, the sheets falling away from her hips.

Winter had been used to men staring at her, or to be more precise, at her _body_, since she was only thirteen years old. Sometimes, she thought she could recognize that look even in her own father's gaze. As she grew into her womanhood, she had been made to endure the thinly-disguised leering of obese businessmen and dead-eyed politicians at high society functions, and the ribald jokes of their heirs. When they thought she couldn't hear them, they gleefully sized up her "growing assets" and boasted of being the ones to "liquidate her portfolio." Winter knew that she was beautiful, but even her beauty was merely a pleasant fringe benefit to the wealth and power that came with her name.

She showed them. She showed them all. Winter had abdicated her claim to the SDC and joined the military, putting her real talents to work. She wasn't naive enough to think that none of her colleagues or subordinates didn't see her beauty, but while they might dream of her at night, she had worked her way into a position where, if they couldn't respect Winter the woman, they _had_ to respect Winter the soldier. When they spoke to her, it wasn't in terms of "sweetheart" or "princess," it was "yes, ma'am, no ma'am, right away Specialist." They looked to her with respect and no small amount of wariness, and that's exactly how Winter liked it.

And then there was Qrow bloody Branwen.

He hadn't respected her position or her authority one whit, seemingly deriving some immature amusement at driving her mad and taunting her, her commanding officer, and Atlas as a whole. And yet, in that bed that night, the way he had looked at her, as if she were the single most amazing thing he'd ever seen in his life... Maybe, just maybe, it was possible that he didn't see the SDC and its wealth or power, _or_ the military with its grand display of overt might. Maybe Qrow saw what no other man had… Winter, just Winter, the lonely young woman.

It was the first time Winter fully admitted to herself that she was lonely.

Ultimately, the reason she had been so rash was because Qrow simply made her feel on a level that she never had before. Something about him got to her, bypassed all of her emotional shielding as if they weren't even there. It was what had led her to escalating their confrontation at Beacon into a physical altercation. It was what had her embracing him for comfort when Weiss had been taken by their father. And it was what had led to her sharing herself with him.

It was also why she was so afraid. Well, that and the broken condom.

Winter knew that there were some men who got a power rush from the act of impregnating women, but even as relentlessly cynical as she was, she couldn't reconcile the man who had held her with such tenderness with the notion that that man could have deliberately sabotaged his prophylactics. He must have been careless, carrying old condoms in his wallet until they wore thin and broke under the… _strain_.

Qrow had tried to feed her some line about a "bad luck Semblance," which was just pitiful. Being so careless was one thing, but refusing to own up to it and patronizing her with an obvious excuse was even worse. And so an already awkward post-coital experience had been made even worse by her needing to wake in the silence of the dark hours of the morning, to make an early morning run to a discreet supplier for emergency contraception. Qrow hadn't even stirred. Truly, it was just what every girl dreamt of for her first time.

Winter tried to keep her foul mood under control as she heard the telltale clicking of Weiss's heels that heralded the arrival of her little sister. The last thing that the girl needed was for her older sister to drop her personal baggage on her. She heard her sister giggle at something. Oh good, her idiot boyfriend was up too. Hooray. Winter had not ignored how Weiss had summarily moved the boy into her room as soon as they had arrived at the house. If her sister had opted to engage in the same sort of… _nocturnal diversions_ that she had, then Winter just hoped that her own morning afters had been more pleasant than hers.

Weiss skipped into the kitchen. She literally _skipped. _For some reason, she must have been in a damn fine mood that morning, as she practically beamed her adorable little Snowflake smile."Hello, big sister!" Weiss chirped happily as she saw her sitting at the table. First of all, there was no good time of the morning for skipping. None. Secondly, while Winter didn't begrudge her sister's happiness, could she keep the cuteness down to a dull roar before at least ten in the morning? Winter was trying to sulk, damn it.

"Heya, Winter!" Jaune added, as he slid across the kitchen floor in his socks. "Imma get some pancakes going. Want some? Ah, of course you do," he dismissed as he put a skillet on the stove and started pouring pancake batter onto it. "Hey Weiss, you want to cut up some strawberries for toppings? I'm sure Ruby will love it when she finally gets her lazy butt out of bed."

"On it!" Weiss started chopping up strawberries and sliding them into a bowl, whistling happily as she did so. She tugged on Jaune's sleeve. "Jaune, here," she said, popping a slice of strawberry into his mouth. Weiss chopped up a few more strawberries before tugging on his sleeve again.

"Again?" Jaune asked. Instead of feeding him another strawberry bit, Weiss popped onto her toes to give him a quick smooch.

Winter tried hard to repress her urge to ruin the mood by throwing her mug at the boy. To be sure, she was glad to see Weiss so happy, but seriously, if the scene got any more saccharine sweet, she ran the risk of developing diabetes by osmosis. She could never imagine herself behaving in such an obviously lovestruck manner. A soldier needed to maintain _some_ dignified reserve, after all.

"So, did you and Sir Qrow work out your _thing_?" Weiss asked her.

Winter nearly choked on her coffee. "I beg your pardon?" she sputtered.

Weiss blinked, taken aback. "The… unnamed issue that you two needed to work on? After you left dinner last night?"

Oh. Right.

"Oh, right," Winter said, quickly averting her gaze. "Yes, it was resolved."

_Quite vigorously, _she added mentally.

"You know," Weiss said, her tone teasing, "Nora had a strange notion that the two of you were carrying on some illicit tryst last night?"

"What?! Don't… don't be absurd!"

"What's so absurd about it?" Weiss asked. "You know, you've never introduced me to any boyfriends, girlfriends, or even friends in general. Did you know that I never even met any of your teammates from Atlas Academy? So that tells me it's either one of two reasons why. Either you're ashamed to have me meet people important to you - "

"_Never_," Winter declared. Weiss brought a plate with a couple of strawberry-topped pancakes over and put it in front of her sister, giving her a soft, sad look.

"Or you just never had any," Weiss finished her sentence.

Winter looked abashed. "The life of a Specialist -"

"Is worth living to the fullest, no?' Weiss interjected, her tone gentle. "I'm not saying I think you necessarily _should_ start anything, or that it has to be with him, but… I can tell that you're lonely, and you have been for a long time. I just want you to be happy and well, big sister."

Winter could only stare at her sister. She knew that the girl had been growing up quite rapidly, but somewhere along the line, her bratty little sister Weiss had gone and become a sensitive and insightful young woman.

"Although," Weiss continued, leaning in to a conspiratorial hush, "you could do far worse than Sir Qrow. He's rather dashing, in a disreputable kind of way. Or," she said with an exaggerated look of mock contemplation, her finger on her chin, "maybe there's _another _reason for your dedication to the General? He's also quite handsome, and literally well-built. You wouldn't be the only Atlesian Officer to have a more than professional devotion to the man."

"What?!" Winter looked over Weiss's shoulder, checking to see Jaune at the stove, listening to music on his Scroll and dancing in place as he cheerily flipped pancakes in the skillet, ostentatiously ignoring the women-talk going on behind him.

Weiss made an elaborate shrug, her hands palm-up by her shoulders. "What? It makes a certain, devious sort of sense. Associate with two, diametrically-opposed, handsome older men… play into their antagonism, and maybe they'll start fighting over _you_, yes? No one else might have caught on, but I see you, sister."

Winter's expression went flat as she caught on. "You're teasing me."

"Dear sister, I would _never_!" Weiss exclaimed, her face a picture of absolute innocence.

"That Xiao Long girl is a bad influence on you," declared Winter.

Weiss smirked. "Speaking of Xiao Longs, Ruby and Yang's father is _also_ a rugged older man, and quite fit, from what I've seen. Maybe a weakness for blonde men is also a hereditary trait? I'm sure if I asked nicely, they'd be happy to introduce you."

"How about, instead of worrying about my love life - "

"Ooh, so it _is _a love life now?"

Winter felt her eye twitch as she pressed on. "We discuss yours? You've been getting downright domestic with that boy, Weiss. Any long term plans? Should I begin preparing wedding arrangements?"

There was a pause, as Weiss looked at her breakfast-cooking boyfriend with an oddly thoughtful expression on her face.

What.

That wasn't how this was meant to go! Weiss was supposed to stammer and blush and be adorably off-balance, not give the matter serious consideration!

"Weiss, that was a jape," Winter pointed out, concerned.

"I know," replied Weiss. "But… I would be lying if I didn't say that I've been thinking long-term about my relationship with him."

Winter-dot-exe has crashed.

"Weiss, you _cannot_ be serious!" Winter hissed.

"Why not?"

"Because!" Winter's hands began to flail, something that only happened when she was truly off balance. "You're only eighteen! He's the first boyfriend you ever had! You're too young, and you've only been dating for a year and were apart for most of that, and you still have so much to do on a professional level!"

"Hey, one moment," Weiss said. "I never said I was going to run off and elope with him right now. Even if I did, that wouldn't mean I would have to drop everything. I'm just contemplating if he's suitable for such a potentially permanent relationship in the future. We still have our mission, and dealing with the SDC after that, after all."

Winter felt a headache coming on. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Just… just promise me you'll get a prenuptial agreement."

"Well, of course, I wouldn't wish to lose out on the _vast_ amounts of nothing that I stand to inherit," snarked Weiss. "Let's see, if he makes off with half of my nothing, adjusting for inflation, carry the one, that would leave me with, oh right, _nothing_."

"What Jacques wants and what you may stand to receive may well be two different things. Be ever wary."

"We'll see where the dust settles," Weiss said philosophically. "Although, if I gain control of whatever remains of the SDC after we're through with it, there would be nothing stopping me from naming _you_ my heir."

"You wouldn't dare."

"I've been daring a lot lately."

"I will sic Beowulves on you."

"How is that different from any other Tuesday?"

Before Winter could retort, she heard more footsteps "You guys made pancakes?" The orphan girl zipped into the room, followed by her silent shadow. For the life of her, Winter could not fathom these teenagers' fascination with pancakes.

"Oh, cool, you cooked? Thanks, Jaune!" Now the scythe girl was there with her punch happy sister. Soon, the table was filled with plates and loudly eating teens. Finally, Qrow himself put in an appearance. Winter was surprised to see him worse for wear. He was trying to hide it, but when he looked over at her, he looked… hurt, somehow. No, _resigned_.

What? What cause did he have, to look at her in such a manner? He did this sort of thing all the time, surely he must have woken alone before. These things happen, particularly with Huntsmen, and it wasn't as if she could call a halt to the day's training to announce her need to run and procure contraception because _someone_ used old condoms last night.

So why did he look that way? And why did it bother her so?

[/]

There were a few sensations that Jaune had come to appreciate in his extremely short career as a Huntsman. The satisfaction of hearing Crocea Mors click into its scabbard, or having clean, dry socks to wear, for instance. But catching someone by surprise with his competence?

That never got old.

So when Winter had proposed a two-on-two team duel, featuring himself and Yang as a team against Weiss and Ren, Jaune had quickly formulated... well, it wouldn't exactly rate as a full plan, as such, or even a scheme, but it fell nicely into the category of "trick". Yang could have stood to be a little less gleeful about it, but he supposed it couldn't be helped. As per their discussion, as soon as Winter called for the match to begin, Yang stepped forward and slammed her fists together with a feral smile.

"Heya, Mood Ring," she said, using an old nickname for the notoriously stoic Lie Ren. "You ready for round two?!"

A casual observer would have missed it, but to his friends, it was quite obvious that he was not, in fact, ready for round two against Yang Xiao Long. There was only so much concussive trauma that a man could endure, after all, and he was already dating Nora.

As Ren subtly backed away from the predatory kickboxer, Weiss swiftly formed a summoning glyph. With Yang occupied, Jaune would need to take her on himself, and he was slow, with a plodding, methodical approach style. She would have enough time to bring out a summon. Maybe a giant Boarbatusk? Or perhaps she could amplify her mobility advantage over her boyfriend by bringing forth a Nevermore?

What she had not been anticipating, however, was for Jaune to abruptly leap towards Yang, who jumped in turn to meet him halfway. The fiery woman caught Jaune by the ankle, spinning a brief circuit in place to build up momentum before winging him, full force, directly at Weiss.

He hit her like an enormous brick, smashing into Weiss and slamming her to the ground, driving the air from her. She gasped as he sat up, straddling her, and then driving a sharpened edge of his shield into the ground by her head. Weiss bit her lip as she stared up at him and his easy-going grin. Having him so decisively manhandle her had been... well, for a lack of a better term, it was _hot_. Only the fact that they had an audience kept her from wrapping her legs around his waist and pulling him further on top of her. A heavy blush ran up her neck and face, even reaching the tips of her ears, as she tried and failed to keep words like "mount" and "conquer" from running wild through her mind.

"Just dropping in?" she asked, delighting in the happy surprise on his face as she echoed words he had said to her all the way back in their Initiation.

"You know me," he said. "Just chock full of surprises."

"Yeah you are," breathed Weiss, heaving her chest towards him.

Whatever he might have said next was lost, replaced by a sudden shriek of surprise as he was tackled off of Weiss by one of Winter's summoned Beowulves. One moment, her grinning golden boyfriend was on top of her, and the next, he was simply _gone_, as if he'd never been in the first place. His smiling visage had been replaced by an exasperated looking Winter.

"Really, Weiss?"

She flushed again, this time for a very different reason. "I was, erm, formulating a tactical reversal."

"Oh, is _that_ how the youth are referring to it these days?"

As Winter pulled her to her feet, Weiss saw Jaune on his back, hands locked around the muzzle of Winter's Beowulf, and straining to keep the snapping jaws from locking around his throat.

"I think he gets the message, Winter," Weiss admonished her sister.

"Does he? Does he _really?"_ At Weiss's glare, Winter reluctantly dispelled her construct.

"I could have had him," Jaune said, trying to play it down.

Winter just shook her head. "Miss Xiao Long, Mister Ren, if you would kindly rejoin us over here?" The two dropped their conversation with Nora about establishing official rules for Competitive Jaune Tossing, and trotted over to their instructor.

"Now, then. Since apparently these two," Winter said, with a dismissive wave towards Weiss and her boyfriend, "seem unable to maintain their focus, I would wish for the two of you to team up against them. Oh, and Miss Xiao Long, do be a dear and punch some of the ardor out of my sister's paramour, would you?"

Yang looked at her confused. "Jaune's a tree?"

Winter pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on. "Just… just go beat him until he can't feel feelings anymore."

"Well, why didn't you just say that in the first place?"

"Hold off on that, would ya?" The entire group looked over to see Qrow approaching from the other side of the courtyard, the rest of the team in tow. "Just got word from Leo. Wants to meet us tonight about the Maiden. There's a chance we'll need to move out tonight, so we need to let the squirts catch their breath a bit, top off their Aura."

Winter tried not to sigh. Not because Arc wouldn't get his comeuppance for making a mockery of her training session - and for corrupting her sister into doing the same - but because Qrow wasn't able to look her in the eye as he spoke to her.

[/]

Ruby ran through the halls, determined to catch up to Miss Winter. She had very important tactical information to share with Weiss's sister, and if they went off into a fight without her knowing, well, bad things could happen!

The small teenager found the soldier sharpening her saber with a whetstone in the basement armory. "Um… excuse me, Miss Winter?"

The elder Schnee turned to look at her. "Hello, Miss Rose. Is there something the matter?"

Ruby fidgeted with her hands, reminding Winter of her younger sister for a moment. "Well, it's just… you need to keep away from my uncle," she blurted.

Winter blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Well, it's just, bad things could happen, and someone could get hurt! I mean, you're my best friend's big sister, and she would be really upset if something happened, and my uncle would feel super guilty about it, so I'm kind of looking out for the two of them as well? Not that I don't like you for, you know, you, it's just…" Ruby cut off as she realized that she had begun to babble.

Winter's expression softened. "Is this about what happened between myself and your uncle last night? I don't know what he told you, but… well, I suppose I can understand looking out for your relatives. Maidens know that fool needs it more than most." She put down her saber to focus on Ruby. "Sometimes, when adults are in stressful situations they…" Winter flushed as she fished for the proper term. "They seek methods of _relieving_ that tension. These aren't always the best decisions, but part of being an adult means accepting the consequences in a responsible manner."

Ruby's silver eyes went wide. "What?! Are you - you're saying - _did you have inappropriate relations with my uncle_?!" she half-shouted, half-squeaked.

"If not for that, then why else would you have been warning me away from him?"

"Because of his Semblance!" the young girl's face with red with embarrassment. Her uncle and her partner's big sister had… had… _canoodled!_ "It's a bad luck Semblance! It's always on and he can't control it! Bad things just happen around him, which is why he usually works alone! You need to keep a physical distance from him in a fight, not… not stop your… whatever it is you were doing!"

"You cannot mean to tell me that Qrow fed his own niece that same lie about his Semblance."

"My uncle's not a liar!" Ruby protested. "He drinks too much and he's a serial canoodler, but he's not a liar!"

Before Winter could question the girl's choice of vernacular in the term "serial canoodler," the last man she wanted to see there strode into the armory. "Hey, I heard shouting. Everything okay down here?"

As she watched in horror, Winter saw the girl dash to Qrow. "Uncle Qrow! I was trying to tell Miss Winter to not get too close to you, and she thought I meant about you, you _canoodling_ with her last night - "

"Could you _please_ stop referring to it in such a manner?"

" - and she didn't believe me about your Semblance. What's going on?" finished Ruby.

Qrow sighed, his hand rising to his shirt pocket on pure instinct, before he thought better of it and lowered the hand onto Ruby's head, ruffling her hair. "Yeah, uh, look kiddo, this is kind of an awkward situation you stumbled onto. Why don't you let your old Uncle Qrow handle this and go make sure your friends are ready for tonight."

Ruby looked up suspiciously at her uncle. "Qrow, are you going to canoodle with her again down here?" she asked, ignoring the exasperated huff from Winter. Really, she was just like Weiss sometimes.

"Yeah, uh, I don't think that's on the agenda right now," Qrow replied. "Now beat it, kid, you're cramping my style."

The girl moved to leave, but then paused at the door as a thought occurred to her. She turned back to the two adult Hunters, her silver eyes sparkling. "Does this mean that Weiss is gonna be Yang and I's cousin now? Can I call you Auntie Winter?"

"What." It wasn't a question, just a flat expression of pure, unadulterated disbelief from the soldier. Despite himself, Qrow couldn't help chuckling at the sheer poleaxed expression on Winter's face in response to the unbridled youthful optimism of one Ruby Rose.

"I've gotta go tell Weiss! Qrow, don't screw this up!" With that, Ruby dashed away in a cloud of roses, gone before Winter could even think to tell her to keep that information to herself. The soldier glared at Qrow, who, for his part, just gave a shrug, then spread his hands out after she fixed him with a withering glare.

"What?" he asked. "I wasn't the one who spilled the beans."

"I _thought_ that, when she came to tell me to keep my distance from you, it was pertaining to our… erm, our _affair._" Winter huffed. Qrow held out his flask to her and she took it, downing a slug of whiskey. Someday, when she finished this mission, she was going to corner someone in authority to figure out what, exactly, she did to deserve these people, and if that someone didn't have some _amazingly_ good answers for her, she would resort to Plan Stabbing.

"So, is that what we're calling it?" Qrow asked, trying and failing to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

Winter rolled her eyes. "Okay, Qrow, you've been moping like a kicked puppy all day. What went and pissed in your cereal this morning?"

"Such language, Ice Queen. Didn't know they swore like that in hoity-toity society."

"Can it. We're both adults, professionals. If this is going to interfere with our mission, we need to work through it. Now, tell me what your problem is, and be quick about it."

"Alright." Qrow took a slug of his own from the flask before replacing it and leaning against a wall. "I get the whole 'no strings attached' things, I do. I just didn't think you were the type. Remember telling me about your kid sister 'doesn't deserve an empty bed in the morning?' What, so I do?"

Winter froze. "Are… are you serious right now?"

Qrow's laugh was bitter. "Yeah, yeah, I know, big bad Huntsman went and bought too much into it. So, maybe I was getting my hopes up that this time might be different. Go ahead and laugh."

She tossed her head back and groaned. "Qrow, you indefatigable dunce. You remember how last night ended, right? Your little accident?"

"Oh, so now you believe me about my Semblance?"

"Irrespective of your Semblance, that doesn't change the fact that I needed to resort to a 'plan b' this morning!"

Qrow looked confused. "But we haven't even heard Leo's first idea for finding the Spring Maiden yet. I mean, it'll probably be a waste of time, but - "

"No, you idiot, I needed contraceptives. You could have got me pregnant last night!"

Whatever else they might have said was put on hold as they both heard high-pitched squeals coming from outside the door. Winter stormed up the stairway and tore the door open, revealing Weiss and Ruby, arm in arm, and both bearing identical looks of pure excitement. "Oh my gosh, are you having a baby?" asked Weiss, her huge eyes glistening.

"No. Go away." With that, Winter slammed the door shut again and made back down the stairs, ignoring her sister's muffled commentary of "Oh, so that's how that feels. It is not great."

Qrow had already relocated to the far corner of the armory. "So, I, uh, I guess I kinda jumped the gun on that one, huh?"

She fixed him a withering look. "Yes. Yes you did."

"Still, the point about my Semblance stands. You need to stand well clear if we're in a scrap, okay?"

"Fine. I suppose I can operate under the assumption that you're telling the truth. Truly, a novel sensation."

"Hey," he said, his arms wide. "Have I ever actually lied to you?"

"If you did, how would I know?"

"You mean Jimmy wouldn't clue you in?"

Winter huffed, crossing her arms. "I am not privy to everything the General knows… obviously. I suppose all of this had to do with why you insisted I be removed from Ozpin's office back at Beacon?"

"Eh, nothing personal," Qrow shrugged. The pair fell into an awkward silence. "So," he began. "Where does this leave us?"

"I don't know what you mean," Winter demurred, keeping her gaze on a far wall.

"I mean, you and me. You mean to say it was all physical, nothing else going on there?"

"It was a… a… " Despite herself, despite her position and her achievements, and all of her fierce, bloody-minded discipline, Winter couldn't bring herself to say that it was a mistake. She regretted the incident with the condom, and she regretted the conclusions that both had jumped to, but for all of that she understood it to be a colossally bad idea in her soldier's mind, she found, to her surprise, that she didn't regret the decision itself.

She wanted him to look at her like that again.

"Tell you what," Qrow offered, interpreting her silence as a sign of her embarrassment. "You look me in the eye and tell me it meant nothing, and I'll never bring it up again. Not even when I'm deliberately trying to annoy you."

She finally pulled her gaze from the wall, her crystal blue eyes meeting his warm red ones. "You're a bandit," she told him.

"Okay… I mean, not for a while, but - "

"You're a downright rogue," interrupted Winter, taking a step closer to him. "An alcoholic. A womanizer." A smile pursed her lips. "A spy, and a part-time bird. A scruffy reprobate of ill-repute."

"Damn, you know how to make a guy feel godsdamned dandy about himself, don't you?"

"You're a scoundrel." She traced a finger up his chest. "And somehow, I don't care."

"Y-yeah?" Qrow's voice hitched. She had to keep from laughing at how the weight of years and sorrows seemed to melt from his shoulders. _I suppose that every man is a boy at heart,_ she mused.

"Maybe I've grown a bit weary of making the rational decision," she told him, her voice in a low, husky whisper. With that, Winter reached up to pull him down into a kiss. His rough whiskers tickled her as she fell into the kiss. Her breath caught as she felt his hand on the small of her back, pulling her as close as he could.

Winter had no idea that a bad idea could feel so _good_.

As they broke apart, she sighed. "You do realize that every indication is that this is going to end up being an unmitigated disaster, right?"

Qrow was grinning like he hadn't in years. "Feels good to do something dumb, huh?"

Winter felt herself flush as she was unable to maintain her stoic mask. "Ahem. Well. Best we focus on our mission tonight, then. I trust that any unit cohesion issues have been resolved in a satisfactory manner?"

"I love it when you talk dirty like that."

She rolled her eyes. "Just not in front of the kids, if you please. Explaining this to Weiss is going to be a task and a half."

As it turned out, Winter's attempt to downplay what had just happened was simply not going to fly as a bevy of teenagers cheered and toasted them as they emerged upstairs into the living room. The worst of it was dealing with Weiss, who had greeted her with a truly _diabolical_ little grin, one that disturbed Winter greatly, before dragging her into her room.

"What, what is it?" she asked her younger sister.

"So," Weiss began in a sing-song tone. "Remember all those times you talked down about Jaune? I believe you referred to him as… let's see, 'disreputable,' 'underwhelming,' 'entirely unsuitable,' do any of those terms ring a bell?"

Winter coughed. "Well, you see, this is different because… well…"

"Because unlike _me_, you can actually get pregnant. Oh, Winter, one night and already a pregnancy scare? I fear that, in your efforts to educate me, you neglected to see to your own enlightenment! But worry not, as I have plenty of materials on hand to make sure that you too can enjoy sexual activity in a safe and healthy manner!"

"Wait, you too? Have you been - "

"Ahpupbup, this isn't about _me_, this is all about _you_! You see big sister, when the man ejaculates into the vagina - "

Winter turned bright red. "For crying out loud, Weiss, I know how babies are made!"

"Do you, sister mine? Do you _truly_?" Weiss continued to taunt her older sister with an expression of pure glee.

"...I don't know whether to be proud or appalled by your revenge," admitted Winter.

"I am quite good at it, aren't I?" Weiss mused.

[/]

They strode into the main hall of Haven Academy that night, a truly motley collection. A drunken Huntsman with his two nieces, a prodigy and a bionic brawler. An Atlesian Specialist and her transgender fencer sister. A knight, a warrior monk, a farmboy with two souls, and a Nora. As he greeted them from the top of the stairway, it was clear that Lionheart had not been anticipating such a greater force to answer his call.

"I, um, I was not expecting to see the Schnee sisters to have joined you as well," the nervous lion Faunus admitted as he fretted. "And… so heavily armed!"

Qrow shared a look with Winter, who took a step forward. "Atlas has always stood ready to assist in matters pertaining to the security of the general public. And, as Huntsmen, Huntresses, and a Specialist, it should come as no surprise that we are prepared for a fight. Now, why don't we go discuss this plan of yours?"

As Winter spoke, Yang eyed a very familiar black bird watching from a bannister. "Raven?"

To everyone's surprise, Qrow fired off a shotgun blast directly at the bird, which flew overhead and transformed into a tall, pale, red-armored woman with jet black hair, a mask ready to be pulled down over her face, and blood red eyes. "If you mean to shoot me, then shoot me," she taunted. "That effort was just… _insulting_."

"What are you doing here?" Qrow asked her. "What's going on?"

Raven shook her head at her twin brother. "Always following Ozpin, and never really knowing anything. It's why you will never be able to defeat Salem. You and everyone alongside you, are just dancing to his tune and marching headlong to your deaths."

"Why, Raven? What do you gain from hiding the Spring Maiden? What's your angle?"

"I'm doing what I've always done; survive. There can be no victory against Salem, but, perhaps she can be appeased."

"_Traitor_." None present had heard such venom in his voice as his lip curled.

"Wait!" Ruby Rose, always the peacemaker, stepped forward to try and reason with the woman who, in another life, might have been as a mother to her. "It's not too late to work together! We've overcome incredible odds to get where we are today, and none of us would have made it on our own. If we work together, we can beat Salem. We _will_ beat Salem!"

Raven looked at the small teenager, so similar to a woman now long-gone. It was like seeing a vision of a past nearly forgotten. "You sound… just like your mother." In the blink of an eye, Raven drew her long blade and sliced open a portal. Immediately, a fireball flew from the other side, striking Ruby in the chest and sending her sliding across the floor.

"Ruby!" Weiss went to her partner while the others drew their weapons.

"Incoming hostiles!" called out Winter, lowering herself into a combat crouch. Through the portal stepped Cinder Fall, her two disciples, and the bandit Vernal. From behind the Hunter team, a massive man entered the room and barred the door behind him. "The way is shut," he said, cracking his enormous knuckles. "No one's getting in. And no one's getting out."

"How long?" asked Qrow, through gritted teeth. "How long have you been working for Salem?!"

"Oh, don't feel too bad," Cinder chided in a mocking tone. "Raven is a recent addition. But Professor Lionheart, here, he's been an asset for a long, long time. He was only too happy to help set up Mistral's Huntsmen, sending them out on missions. Knowing who is going out where, it was all too easy for Hazel and Tyrian to ambush them."

The reality of exactly _why_ Mistral had been so deprived of active Huntsmen hit like a punch.

"How?" Jaune asked. He looked up at Cinder, tears streaming down his face. "How can you go around hurting people, killing people, and acting like it's nothing! To come and rub it in people's faces? All with that damn smile on your face?!"

The other teenagers brandished their weapons while Qrow tried to calm Jaune down. Here, for once, the youth knew the score. The time for lighthearted teenage antics died alongside Pyrrha Nikos. Their enemies could, and would, kill them if they had the chance, and they needed to meet them with equal force. Blood for blood.

"Well?!" Jaune shouted at the silent visage of Cinder Fall. "_Give me an answer!_"

Cinder just gave a little shrug. "Who are you again?"

Jaune stared at her in complete, shocked disbelief. Since the Fall of Beacon, her actions in killing Pyrrha had overshadowed every moment of every day. His life could be divided between before the Fall and after, and everything that had come about on that single, awful day could be laid at the feet of Cinder Fall.

And she couldn't care less.

He gripped Crocea Mors, the bronze edges of the sword springing from the scabbard. With the ancient blade held low to his side and with a bellow of pure, righteous outrage, Jaune charged.

And the battle was on.

"Weiss, go help Yang!" Ruby ordered. "I'll help Jaune!"

Weiss forced herself to follow the orders of her partner, her leader, and her friend. "R-right. Just bring him back!"

"On it!"

With that, two girls went to war.

[/]

Yang squared off against Mercury Black and the bandit Vernal. "Out of my way," the blonde kickboxer spat. "I have an appointment with my mother."

"Not so fast, sweetheart," Mercury taunted. "You still owe me for that leg. It took me, like, a good fifteen minutes to fix the part you broke."

"I'll kick your ass after I'm done with Raven."

Vernal drew her large, crescent gun-knives. "Well, you and I still need to finish what we started back at the camp."

"And you can wait until after I dismantle Merc," Yang said with a dismissive wave.

"Hmph. Arrogant cow."

"Ginch-faced bitch."

"Ladies, ladies," Mercury smirked. "We can always make this a threeway."

Vernal rolled her eyes, but joined Mercury in a two-on-one brawl. Yang ignored a low feint from the silver-haired assassin and dodged the subsequent hook kick that he sent towards her head. She spun in a tight, acrobatic midair roll to avoid a back roundhouse kick that could have broken ribs, only to make a desperate backhand swat with her bionic arm to deflect a shot from Vernal.

"Okay, so you're not as completely hopeless as you were at Beacon," conceded Mercury. "But you're still way in over your head."

"Only one way this ends," Vernal spat. She hefted her weapons again… and was frozen from the waist down with a thick chunk of ice. Now, temporarily immobilizing one's enemy and taking advantage of that opportunity by repeatedly stabbing at them in the kidneys and/or spine is generally not considered Good Form by dedicated fencing organizations. Weiss, however, found it to be considerably effective.

Yang took the opportunity to engage Mercury on more even footing, as Vernal, feeling her Aura chipping away with each stab, finally wrenched her legs free of the grasping ice. She turned around to see a short, white-haired girl with a scar over one eye and a rapier in her left hand.

"You did _not_ just backstab a Branwen," hissed the bandit. Weiss gave a wry little shrug in response. Taking the risk, Vernal looked around for Yang, but found that the infuriating blonde had taken her fight to a far side of the large room. "Okay, guess you'll be my new punching bag until I can get face a _real_ fighter."

"Oh, if you cross me, you'll receive quite the fight," Weiss gave a little flourish with her blade.

Vernal smirked. Oh, this little princess, with her pretty little pig-sticker, she was going to _get it_. Silly rich girl didn't seem to get what a poor matchup their weapons made; with her twin hooking blades, Vernal could easily trap the point of Weiss's rapier and assault her with minimal fear of retribution. A predatory grin slid across her lips as she pounced.

As expected, Vernal effortlessly locked the tip of Myrtenaster into place. What she did _not_ expect was for the silly little girl to flick her thumb along the revolving chamber at the forte of the weapon and send a gout of flame directly into her face at point-blank range. The bandit fell back with a shriek, blindly waving her blades before her in an attempt to ward off the follow-up strikes that she knew to be coming.

The short length of Vernal's blades made them perfect melee tools for infighting, but they also limited the extent of the body that they could successfully ward, particularly as Vernal was unable to see. And so, Weiss went in low, stabbing at Vernal's thighs and even her feet, the razor sharp steel and flames both licking at the other woman's Aura, further depleting it.

Eventually, the flames died down and Vernal was able to see once more. Weiss just gave her a jaunty salute with Myrtenaster.

"Another pass?"

[/]

Ruby fended off Emerald's spinning attacks, the three curving blades of the opponents whirring in a dizzying spin of lethal cuts. She watched in horror as Jaune charged Cinder once more. It was obvious that the evil Maiden was merely toying with him, prolonging the fight out of boredom and a sense of sadistic playfulness. She would kill him. Cinder would kill Jaune, just like she killed Pyrrha, and just like then, it would all be Ruby's fault!

She couldn't let it happen again! It _would not_ happen again!

An uncontrollable power surged through Ruby, manifesting in her silver eyes. A blinding flash flooded the room. As a heavy blow to the head rendered her unconscious, Ruby saw no more, and could only hope that it had been enough.

[/]

Jaune didn't know what the _hell_ that flash was, but he wasn't about to let the opportunity go to waste. If he couldn't see Cinder, it was a good bet that she couldn't see him either. With that, he threw out a heavy sidelong swipe, aiming for where she last was. He may not have been able to aim, but damn it, it would hit _something_ of hers.

Cinder had fallen to her knees, gasping for breath after the wave of silver power had washed over her, burning at her, just as it had back at Beacon. She looked up just in time to see the razor-sharp Mistrali Bronze edge of Crocea Mors speeding directly towards her head. There would be no time to bring up her weapons in her defense. There would be no time to dodge.

Cinder Fall was going to die.

The Maiden _exploded_, releasing an eldritch firestorm that blasted Jaune off of his feet and sent Crocea Mors flying through the air, to stick its point into the ground. Cinder rose to her feet, face drawn into a rictus snarl, a corona of magical power streaming from her one eye. She stormed over to the young knight, who groaned and struggled to stand, stomping into his chest with unnatural force.

"Did you really think that you could beat _me_? _You?_"

She upped the pressure, crushing him under her foot. His armor cracked under the onslaught, her strength born equally of ancient magics and sheer, indignant outrage. "I remember you now," she sneered. "You're just the failure with a deathwish."

[/]

"Jaune!"

From across the room, Weiss saw that awful, _evil_ woman pin him to the floor. She tried to go to him, only for Vernal to block her way. "Not so fas-"

Before the bandit could finish her taunt, Myrtenaster was driving towards her heart. Vernal trapped the blade once more, ducking her head to avoid a repeat of the earlier tactic. It therefore took her entirely by surprise when Weiss dropped her weapon altogether, catching Vernal's wrists in an iron grip. Vernal cried out in pain as the bones of her forearms ground together under the pressure, forcing her to drop her weapons.

With all thought of form and technique gone, replaced by a driving _need_ to rescue Jaune, Weiss bodily tackled Vernal, sending her to the ground. She slammed her forehead into the bandit's face, once, twice, and a third time. Vernal's Aura finally gave way after the third strike, Weiss's forehead smashing into her nose, breaking it and sending blood flying through the air. Vernal screamed as she felt a ripping pain along the side of her head, followed by something soft, warm, and sticky hitting her in the face.

Weiss rolled off of Vernal and scooped up her rapier, dashing to Jaune's defense. On the floor, Vernal wiped off the tears that had welled up from her broken nose, only to see what had landed on her face.

It was her own ear. The crazy bitch had ripped her ear off with her _teeth_.

As she lay there on the floor, drained of Aura, with blood streaming from her shattered nose and holding her ear in her hand, Vernal opted not to give chase to the insane woman with the white hair.

[/]

Weiss dashed to reach Jaune in time. Raven Branwen attempted to intercept her, only for Winter to crash into _her_.

She flew through the air as she saw Cinder form a spear and raise it over his heart.

[/]

"You're just the failure with a deathwish."

"That might be," Jaune said. "But my friends, _they're_ the ones that matter. If I die buying them time, then it will all be worth it."

Cinder flash-forged a spear in her hands. "You think so?"

She raised the spear to finish him off, when she caught a flash of movement from the peripheral vision of her sole remaining eye. Faster than thought, she pivoted and drove the spear into Weiss. With strength boosted by Aura and magic, the strike shattered Weiss's Aura in an instant, slamming the spear into her chest, just below her right breast. The tip burst from her back as Weiss fell to her knees in shock.

[/]

"_Weiss!"_ Winter flew into a frenzy, driving Raven onto her heels with the sheer ferocity of her assault. The soldier split her dagger from her saber and crashed into the Bandit Queen, beating against her defenses like mad drummer. Winter howled in shock, loss and horror, the cry underscored by the steady, singular wail of her blades against Raven's frantically-defending blade. The Specialist was only stopped when a bolt of lightning from seemingly nowhere struck her, sending her crashing against a wall, steaming and unconscious.

"Thanks, Vernal," Raven said, keeping up the charade as her associate, looking worse for wear, staggered towards her. "We need to get going if we're going to do this at all."

[/]

Jaune watched in horror as the woman he loved collapsed to the ground, the spear dissipating in a burst of smoke. Cinder's attack had forced her to ease the pressure off of his chest, and so he was able to reach around his back and pull out another weapon.

It was Griever, the dagger that he had made alongside Ruby, one meant to show his lost partner his gratitude for her mentorship and friendship. It was the dagger that Pyrrha had used to carve one of the eyes out of the head of the woman who would end up killing her.

It was the dagger that, with a shout, Jaune drove through her knee.

Cinder shrieked in pain and shock, giving Jaune the opportunity to throw her off of him. Ignoring the agony of his broken ribs, he staggered over to Weiss, turning her over and cradling her in his arms. She felt so small, so fragile, like a porcelain doll shattered by a cruel, uncaring hand.

"No, no, no," he panted as he saw she wasn't breathing. "Weiss, please, no, _Weiss!_"

The bronze tip of the dagger snapped off as Cinder struggled to pull it from her knee, falling, unheeded, to the floor. The power of her sheer _hate_, the burning fury in the withered remnant of her soul, caused the wooden hilt to flash vaporize instantly. Cinder shrieked as the bronze melted in the fires of her magic, painfully and gruesomely fusing to her bone, muscle, and skin, painting her leg, and the palm of her remaining hand, in glistening bronze.

She flash-forged a sword, wincing as she struggled to hold it in her maimed hand. Oh, that little shit, he would _pay_ for this. She would exact such unholy tortures upon him that his gruesome fate would be the stuff of myth and legend!

Before she could begin, she heard Raven call to her. "Leave them. If we're going to do this, we need to do this _now_!"

Cinder's lip curled in outrage, but she could see the reasoning. "Lionheart!" she spat, through gritted teeth. "Open the Vault, now!"

The craven traitor leapt to do her bidding. As the group descended into the depths of the Vault, Cinder kept her gaze focused on the blonde fool cradling the dying woman. He would _wish_ that she forgot about him before she was through with him.

[/]

Jaune paid no heed to the fight raging around him. He almost wished that one of their enemies would come and kill him, if only to make the gnawing ache in his soul come to a merciful end. He was vaguely aware of Ren and Nora coming to kneel by his side, but their words sounded distant to him, as if they were underwater. All that mattered to him was Weiss.

"Please," he whispered as he held her close to him, tears running freely down his face. "It wasn't supposed to be like this! I can't lose you!"

He had never prayed before. There was no one, to the best of his knowledge, to pray _to_. The gods were, at best, indifferent, and at worst, actively malevolent, and in either case, very much absent. Holding Weiss in his arms, feeling her fade away, all he could do was to beg something, _anything_, to bring her back to him. He would give the breath in his lungs to see hers return. He would still the beating of his heart if it would keep hers from falling silent. He would surrender everything he had, even the very essence of his soul, if it kept Weiss from the embrace of death.

And then… a light.

Weiss breathed.

[/]

It was cold. And dark. Weiss drifted in the space between life and death, her body struggling to keep from shutting down. Dimly, she realized that she didn't want to go yet. There was still so much more that she wanted to do, to see, to feel, and she hadn't been able to do scarcely any of it yet.

She didn't want to die.

She was lost, afraid, and overcome with remorse. The sarcastic part of her mind displayed an image of her tombstone: "Here lies Weiss Schnee. She told her father to piss off, and then promptly got murdered before she even turned twenty."

There was still so much left to do. She wanted to dismantle the SDC, and make her family name one to be proud of once more. She wanted to explore new frontiers beyond Dust. She wanted to see this insane quest of hers through to the end, to know just what this game of gods and monsters was all for.

It had to be for something, right? There had to be a reason for it all. There just had to be.

Weiss wanted to feel her sister cradling her in her arms one more time. She wanted to be there to get to know her, not as a surrogate mother and an impossible icon, but as her sister, as another young woman. She wanted the camaraderie of Team RWBY, and Ren and Nora. She needed to know what became of Blake, to witness just how strong Yang could get, and to see the limitless potential of Ruby Rose turn into a reality.

She wanted Jaune.

Weiss wanted to spend her life with him, to see him achieve all his dreams and more, to grow old together. She wanted to marry him, to raise a family with him, to give children the kind of loving parents that she never had, to be proud of their achievements under their guidance.

Weiss wanted to live.

She wanted to _live!_

But it was cold. And dark. The night beckoned to her.

But then… a light.

It was such a small thing, at first. The merest spark, in the overwhelming shroud of the starless night of death. The curious thing about the darkness, though, is that even a small light can travel a long, long way. This light did not remain small for long.

As she turned towards it, the spark grew and grew. Weiss felt the cold drain from her, replaced by the soft, warm glow that she had come to know over the past year.

It was warmth, safety and comfort, the soothing feelings that had so radically changed her life.

It was Jaune.

It had always been Jaune.

His soul touched her, touched her as it had all the way back in Beacon, when a nervous young man, desperate to get her to see the truth of his heart, had taken an anxious young woman by the hand and planted a soft, shy kiss upon her fingers. Ever since then, every dance, every embrace, every kiss, every tender caress, he had been unconsciously sharing minute amounts of his Aura with her. It had felt of him, of his very essence, of a warm, affectionate, earnest young man who wanted to do good things for people. It was everything the lonely young woman had ever wanted.

How could she _not_ have fallen in love with him, when she had fallen in love with the feeling of his soul?

What had always been a soft echo now came as a great, roaring crescendo, infinite in distance and unbound by death. She embraced it eagerly, hungrily, basking in it. Whether it led her back to life, or if it meant that Jaune had died alongside her, she could not know. All she wanted was to glory in its feeling for as long as she could, come what may.

Weiss opened her eyes.

[/]

Across the room from her sister, Winter also stirred. Blearily, she attempted to recall the procedure for self-assessment after receiving electrical damage. Step one: ensure that your heart is still beating. Check. Good, she was going to need that. Step two: ensure that your nerves are not so damaged as to impair combat ability. Well, her muscles and joints ached like no one's business, but the spasming had mostly stopped, and she was able to pull herself up to her feet. Finally, step three: check to see if you've soiled yourself.

Winter was quietly pleased to see that she hadn't loosed her bladder or bowels as a result of the electric shock. As aesthetically pleasing as the white pants of the Atlesian Specialists were, they were _terrible _at concealing some of the less dignified side effects of receiving a powerful jolt of electricity. The last thing Winter needed was a repeat of the incident from her freshman year at Atlas Academy, the one involving her white slacks and an opponent with a penchant for including shock modules on his batons. It took years, literal years, for her so-called "teammates" on Team WHTE to stop making jokes about her being "pissy," or "pissed off" or warning about "incoming yellow snowstorms" every time an opponent whipped out the Lightning Dust.

Weiss, of course, need never know of _that_ particular incident.

Winter's eyes widened as the last vestiges of her daze were burned away by the recollection of her sister's predicament.

"Weiss!"

She quickly dashed to her sister's side, where Ruby, Ren and Nora were gathered around. Weiss was… glowing, with a pale white Aura, which emanated from Jaune's hands.

"Is she alive?" Winter's voice cracked as she asked the assorted teenagers.

"Yes," Jaune said. "I… I think she's going to be okay!"

Winter slumped in relief. From the hole torn in the front of Weiss's top, she could see that the wound itself, at least the outer layers of it, had closed. Bloody hell, it didn't even look as if it would scar. "That is one hell of a Semblance you have there, Arc," she muttered.

"My Semblance?"

"How else would you be healing her?"

Jaune shook his head. "I don't think I'm healing her directly. I can feel her Aura. It was weak before, barely there, but now its strong, and growing even stronger. _That's_ what's healing her."

"That's great," Ruby said. "But we still have a fight to win. Jaune and Weiss will need cover."

Winter tightened her grip on her saber, driving out the last of the nerve spasms by sheer bloody-mindedness. "I will kill anyone who tries to attack them."

Ruby nodded. "Yang and Oscar need help."

As she looked at the unusual sight of the farmboy fighting against the hulking man, Winter noticed something particular about the giant's technique. "He's somehow endured directly infusing himself with Lightning Dust," she noted.

The teens shared a look. "Nora, go against the big guy," Jaune said. "Absorb what lightning you can, then apply the Anti-Yang Protocol on him."

"Anti-Yang Protocol?" Ruby echoed.

"From the food fight. If you can't beat 'em down, beat 'em up," he explained with a nostalgic smile.

"I'll go with her, lure him into zapping her. Ren, you've got Emerald." The quiet young man nodded his assent. "Okay," Ruby said as she stood. "Let's get it done, RNJR!"

Winter watched as they split up. Qrow did battle with Lionheart, sending the treacherous Headmaster onto his heels by deflecting the stream of fireballs he sent towards him and countering with swift, powerful strikes. Ruby dashed around Hazel in a burst of roses, striking where she could and goading him into sending bursts of electricity to the waiting Nora.

Nora's muscles surged with power as the massive man charged her. "Straight to the moon, Alice!" she cried as she blasted him up, up and away with her oversized hammer. "I love my job," she said absently to Ruby, as they watched Hazel fly into the distance.

Ren put his weapons away. Against an illusionist, stray bullets could cause a great deal of harm. All around him, horrifying images haunted his vision. He saw Nora's head explode under gunfire, Jaune stabbed to death alongside Weiss, and Ruby's flesh broil and char under Cinder's hateful flame.

He ignored it all. A common misconception, even among those who knew him, was that they believed his twin bladed machine pistols were collectively known as "StormFlower." They weren't. They bore no names, but that didn't mean that his most deadly weapon was not the StormFlower. _He_ was the weapon, the Lotus in the Raging Winds, and with the power of his Semblance, no storm could move him. Ren strode unerringly towards Emerald.

She panicked and began to use other illusions to try and mask her presence, creating multiple images. But he could sense murderous intent, of which those false images bore none. So it was, that when she lashed out at him, the action repeated a half-dozen times across the mirror of the mind, Ren was able to calmly pivot, sidestep her sickle, and drive the heel of his hand directly into her nose. She tried to strike at him again, but he stepped into the blow, catching it with trapping hands, and sending a powerful kick into her knee. As she staggered, Ren allowed his fists to Become As Things Unto Chainsaws, a blistering flurry of chained punches to her chest that he finished by slamming the heels of both hands into her solar plexus.

Emerald flew through the air a short distance, sliding as she hit the ground. She rose to her feet only to be bashed back down to the ground by Yang, who had caught one of Mercury's kicks and used him as a blunt force instrument. The pair fell to a heap, before sorting themselves out and standing back to back. Yang grinned as she mentally checked off "bash a motherfucker with another motherfucker" from her Huntress Bucket List.

"Your friends are doing well," Winter noted. It was at that point that aerial spotlights streamed through the windows.

"Adam Taurus!" a voice came from a speaker. "This is the Mistral Police! Lay down your weapons and surrender!"

Winter's eyes narrowed dangerously at the mention of the infamous White Fang operative. There was no way in hell that this was a coincidence. "We need to be on our guard," she told Jaune.

The pair heard a delicate cough. Jaune looked back down to her, just in time to see those beautiful ice blue eyes open once more.

"Jaune?" she asked weakly.

"Weiss!"

"What happened?"

"You took a bad hit, but I've got you. You need to stay down until you're all healed up."

Weiss Schnee, newly returned from the brink of death, pouted at her boyfriend. "That's annoying."

Jaune wiped the tears from his eyes. "It's good to have you back, Weiss."

"Hey, Jaune?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

[/]

Hazel Rhineheart ignored the Faunus battle raging around the courtyard where he'd landed. He knew Taurus's power grab would make a mess of things, but even his cynicism hadn't realized just how much it would ruin the entire plan. He slammed two Fire Dust crystals into his arms, roaring as the primal energies coursed through him. Little hammer girl had a neat trick, huh? Well, this would put her down, and then he could concentrate on Ozpin.

_Ozpin._

He blasted the door to Haven Academy's main building open with a powerful fireball. "OZPIN!" he roared, his voice distorted by the Dust.

Distantly, he felt a pressure in his chest, and looked down to see long talons protruding from them, the long, hooked claws impaling him from the shoulders. Hazel looked up to see an enormous Nevermore, seemingly constructed of _ice_, that had him hooked like a fish on the line. With a momentous beat of its wings, the Nevermore construct took flight, following the single directive sent to it by its mistress.

_Up._

For the second time that night, Hazel was sent into the sky, to see just how far up "up" itself could be.

[/]

Winter smirked as she watched the giant Nevermore drag the huge man up and away from the battlefield. "Nicely done, sister," she congratulated.

"I had a little help." Weiss stood proudly, her Aura shining around her as she directed her summon. Jaune had never seen such a beautiful sight.

"Indeed," noted Winter, checking her Scroll. "Jaune's Aura is in the lower yellow, just above red."

"Could you keep an eye on him for me?" Weiss asked. "I do believe my team and I have a fight to finish."

[/]

The end of the fight came with a bevy of surprises. Blake had returned to them, having driven off Adam Taurus, thus outnumbering their enemies even further. When Yang had returned from the Vault, with the Relic of Knowledge in hand, Emerald's Semblance displayed a hithertofore-unknown degree of power, driving a monstrous image of Salem's wrath into their minds. In the confusion, the pair had escaped. Whether Hazel had done the same or had perished due to the fall he would take from the disintegrating Nevermore construct, none there could say. Vernal was dead. Cinder and Raven were gone, whereabouts unknown.

Jaune sat quietly as he watched the reunion of Team RWBY. He was happy for his friends and his girlfriend, of course, but seeing the four of them together again nevertheless punctuated the fact that Team JNPR would never be whole again. He walked over to where he had fought Cinder. Where he had stabbed her in the leg. Where Weiss had nearly died. There on the floor, he found the broken tip of his dagger, all that was left to him.

He pocketed the small piece of bronze and returned to his friends. Ren and Nora fussed over him, removing his cracked armor. Those broken ribs needed treatment, and a paramedic was soon found to bandage his torso, which is where Winter found him once more.

"You attacked a superior enemy with no plan and no real hope of victory," she said without preamble.

"Yep."

She slapped him across the face. "That was for endangering my sister." Then she pulled him into a hug. "And this is for bringing her back to me."

"Ahem."

Winter released Jaune, turning around to see Weiss tapping her toe at them. "This one's mine, go get your own," she said. Then the younger Schnee sister noticed the surprised reactions of Blake and Yang, who also hadn't seen Jaune's physique since their early Beacon days. She turned to face them. "I repeat, this one's mine, go get your own," she said with an exaggeratedly-cross tone. As the other girls wandered off to speak to some of the other friends and family, she approached her sister and her boyfriend.

"I… I'm glad to be with you, with you both," she said. "I want to be with my sister and my Jaune for a long, long time to come yet."

Winter gave a nod towards the blonde. "I suppose I can learn to appreciate his continued presence, especially if it comes with the occasional miraculous restoration."

"You hear that, Weiss? Even you sister thinks I'm a miracle."

Weiss playfully, and very lightly, swatted him on the arm. "I love you, you dunce."

[/]

A weary, but triumphant group made its way back to their rented house. Not only had they not lost a member, but they had recovered one long since lost. Each and every person there had some considerable reflecting to do that night, and the mood was subdued.

Weiss had to convince her sister that she wouldn't vaporize into ashes when her back was turned, and nearly had to physically remove her from her room. Jaune sat on their bed, eyeing his cracked armor forlornly.

"We can get it fixed," Weiss told him. "The important thing is that it did its job and kept my Jaune right here."

"You know, the bronze fittings came from Pyrrha's circlet," he said. "In a way, it was like she was still looking out for me tonight."

"I owe her another one, I suppose," she replied. She stepped into the shower, alone, quickly cleaning off. True to her sister's assessment, there was no scarring, which should have been impossible. Every sensation, from the heat of the water to the feel of the soap on her skin, was as if she were feeling it for the first time. She donned a soft bathrobe, and filled a two-sectioned basin with water, one with soap and one without.

"Here," she said, "Let's get you cleaned up." Gently, she scrubbed Jaune clean, making sure to avoid the bandages. As they made to get some rest, Weiss held him closely. "Jaune?"

"Yes?"

"You need to get healed up quick. I have a lot of living that I need to do, and I need you in order to do it."

[/]

Jaune lay there in the dark. A part of him was afraid that, if he would fall asleep, he would wake in the morning to discover that he had failed, that Weiss had died in his arms and that the events of the past few hours were all a happy delusion. Only the steady rise and fall of her chest, the feel of her warm in his arms, and the gentle breath tickling his chest could convince him that this was real.

He was no stranger to sleepless nights.

They had come so close to another Fall. Too close. Far too close.

Weiss loved him. Not for the first time, and not for the last, Jaune wondered what in the world he might have done to deserve that. Truthfully, he didn't think he did. But that wouldn't stop him from trying to become a man worthy of her love. He would try over and over again, each and every day, for as long as he might live.

**[/]**

**Chapter Endnotes: Fights aren't really my strong suit. I tried. It's astonishing how easily things could have gone very differently in the Haven fight. I do think that Weiss absolutely could have won a fight with Vernal, had she fought in a proper way. **

**I keep mutilating Cinder. It's oddly cathartic. If you write fanfic, give it a shot, it's one hell of a stress reliever.**

**Does Ren have some sort of sensory ability? Because in Volume 4, it seemed like it, so I'm just rolling with that on the grounds of Rule of Cool.**

**Snowbird is a mess, but it's a beautiful mess.**

**The next update is going to be a sort of intermission, featuring a lot of omake/deleted scenes or concepts that I found funny but didn't fit the tone of the chapter each one would have gone in, as well as addressing some commentary and conceptual discussion pertaining to this story. See you there!**

**-Mahina**


	9. Intermission

**Intermission**

This entry is a series of omake/deleted scenes, non-canon to the AU, that I opted not to include for reasons of tone or appropriateness. Or they were just goofy little ideas that I had that I opted to share here. Following that, I'd like to address some conceptual aspects of the story, its subject matter, and the feedback. But first, I'm going to need to address an unexpected controversy, namely the deal with the Snowbird sideship. I mean honestly, that last chapter, I had _Weiss_, of all people, straight-up tear someone's ear off with her teeth, and all I'm reading in the comments are people freaking out about a woman choosing to bang an older man.

**On Snowbird:**

First of all, like none of the young women out there would jump Keanu Reeves if they had the chance. And he's fifteen years older than Qrow!

Winter is an adult. Not even a technically-adult teenager like Weiss & co., but a straight-up military officer entrusted with important missions. She's perfectly capable of choosing who warms her bed, and insisting otherwise is infantilizing. As written in this story, Qrow is not part of her chain of command, either above her or below her. He isn't her mentor. He has no undue influence over her. If she truly wanted, she could snap her fingers and have more wealth and power than he could fathom, but those things never interested her anyway. The only thing he has that she could possibly want is affection. She was of sound mind, free of drugs or alcohol, when she freely consented to engaging in relations with Qrow, her peer.

Besides, I did the same thing when I was in my early twenties. Didn't regret it then, and don't regret it now, because I was an adult woman freely choosing to have a fling with a hot forty-something divorced guy.

_Qrow_ brought up the age gap as part of his self-denigrating depression, but it retreated in the face of a gorgeous woman riling him up. With that being said, it may well re-emerge in the future.

This isn't to say that that relationship is necessarily a _good_ idea, but I think that there's enough chemistry between the characters that sparks reactions between them. Those reactions may well end up detonating in their faces. I don't think Winter is the type to just go off like she did in "Brawl in the Family" without Qrow knowing exactly what buttons to push. There's something to Qrow that gets past the ice facade and the professional detachment and reaches the woman underneath, and I found that worth exploring.

The reason I included the relationship - besides the aforementioned 'overgrown girl playing with dolls' reasoning - is because it ties into the changing relationship between Weiss and her sister, as the former grows into a well-adjusted young woman with a robust social life, meaningful relationships, and a strong sense of self, and the latter looks to fill the void in her life now that her sister no longer needs her in the same way she once did.

That, and because Weiss paying her sister back for insulting Jaune was priceless. Whose got the disreputable boyfriend now, huh?!

The main thing, though, is that I'm going somewhere with this. As I said, it's not going to be smooth sailing for these two, as they are particularly volatile. _Even they_ recognize that this is probably not the best idea, but they don't care. People do that sometimes. Qrow's immaturity and Winter's temper clash, have clashed in the past, and, spoiler alert, will clash in the future. Seeing them grow as people, besides being rewarding in its own right, is going to affect the people around them in interesting ways, most notably by contrasting with the sort of ideal romance that Weiss and Jaune are sharing.

I do hope that this puts the controversy to rest, or at the very least, offers an explanation as to why I didn't find the age gap as disconcerting as some readers seem to. If, as some reviewers have stated, that side plot is sufficient to cause them to cease reading _Falling Snow_ entirely, than I truly do apologize, but I will not be going back to edit out what I've written, nor will I scrap what plotlines I have planned for the future.

Now, let's go have some fun with Omake, shall we?

[/][/]

**Omake: The Neptune Blues**

Neptune Vasillias kicked the ground as he shuffled across the Beacon grounds. One mistake had turned him into a social pariah. Even his team only associated with him because they were forced to do so. Sun had ditched him, without a word, as soon as they had set foot back on Beacon, following their disastrous match at the Festival. The rest of Team SSSN was free to go about their business, while he was stuck confined to quarters. It was completely unfair!

If anything, _Weiss_ should be the one to be punished, for trying to turn him gay. He went around, luring in men by pretending to be a beautiful girl, and in actuality, he was a beautiful man! Neptune had no doubt that, if he had gone to the dance with Weiss, the white-haired young man would have taken him to his team's dorm and revealed the truth. Those little breasts of his were probably falsies, concealing a smooth, toned chest underneath. He would have had a narrow waist, and flat, washboard abs, just like Sun's, no doubt leading to a massive, throbbing dick, with veins pulsing with uncontrollable lust as he forced Neptune to his knees and -

Nope! Neptune didn't fantasize about other men! His hair might be blue, but his Atlesian blood ran just as red as any other man's! He, Neptune Vasillias, was completely, totally, _vocally_ straight! The erection tightening his slacks was just, um, a physiological reaction to the adrenaline from the fight! Yes! That's just science!

He was straight! Honest! And to prove it, he was going to hit on _every woman he saw!_

Neptune soon got his chance, as he saw a tall, busty, white-haired woman walking alone, looking somewhat despondent. Awesome. A chick feeling down on herself made for an easier target for Neptune Vasillias: Totally Heterosexual Babe Hunter.

"'Sup, Snow Angel?" he asked. "Haven't seen you around here. You an upperclassman?"

Winter Schnee looked from side to side, checking to make sure that this strange boy was, in fact, addressing her. "Is there some reason that you're speaking to me right now?"

"That's because today's your lucky day," he said, shooting her the finger guns. "Not every day a gal like you manages to run into the coolest guy around."

Winter stared at him. "I don't even know you, and I'm fairly sure I loathe you. Get out of my way."

"Wow, you sound just like Weiss. Are you related?"

"You know my sister?"

"Ha! 'Sister', that's a good one. Weiss is a dude, yo," he said, obliviously missing the darkening expression on Winter's face. "I checked myself. Grabbed his sack, even. Not that I spend a lot of time touching other guys' junk. I just had to check before he tried to stick it in me and turn me gay. But enough about him. How about you and I go somewhere private? I want to slip into something more comfortable, like your cervix."

If looks could kill, Neptune would have been smashed into a gruesome bloody paste, then that paste would have been scooped up by a puking cop with a shovel and tossed into an incinerator, then those ashes would have been gathered into a rocket and fired past the event horizon of a black hole, where the resulting sundering of space and time would have retroactively ended Neptune's entire existence before he was ever conceived.

Neptune waggled his eyebrows at her.

[/]

Glynda felt a headache coming on as she reported to the infirmary. "Really?" she snapped at an entirely unrepentant Winter Schnee. "First you pick a fight with Qrow, and now you assault a student?"

"Did you see the student's name?"

"What does - " Goodwitch stopped as she saw Neptune's name on the report. "Well, Beacon's a dangerous place, tomorrow's Huntsmen need to be prepared for combat at any time," she said, tossing the incident file over her shoulder. "So, what should I report?"

Winter shrugged. "Clearly, his broken jaw was due to natural causes. An accident, like falling down a flight of punches. "

"Tragic."

"Indeed."

**[/][/]**

**Author's Note: **I'm not saying that _every_ transphobic bigot is tragically unable to come to terms with their sexuality, but a _lot_ of them are. You would be stunned at how many people I've known make statements about how gross, unnatural, and loathsome trans people, especially trans women, are, and then later try to slide into my DMs, trying to get me to top them.

It gets downright _lethal_ with the "trans panic defense." In most American states, you can _kill a transgender person dead_, and then, in a court of law, argue that you were just so panicked by her (it's always a her) gender that you had no choice but to murder her. It's no guarantee that a jury will buy it, but you can try it. One instance of this was in the case of the murder of Islan Nettles, in 2013. Her killer, a man named James Dixon, had flirted with Nettles, before his friends mocked him for hitting on a transgender woman. He beat her to death with his bare hands on a street in the middle of New York City, used the defense to work the charges down to voluntary manslaughter, and was sentenced to twelve years in prison.

And for what? Because his ego was so goddamned fragile that he couldn't admit that he'd been attracted to a transgender woman.

For the record, what you see in porn is typically not true to life. Most of those performers have to stop taking estrogen for a period of time to, er, "perform" as they do, and some even take testosterone supplements before a shoot. While there are exceptions, almost every trans woman I know is not interested in sticking their junk in a guy's butt. It's usually the exact opposite.

Of course, some transphobic bigots are just close-minded and spiteful for the sake of it.

In canon, I legit thought that at the dance, Neptune was going to come out as gay to Jaune, in a Very Special Episode that explained his hollow attempts at hitting on women and subsequent rejection of Weiss. But nope, he's just a completely fragile, insecure dink.

**[/][/]**

**Omake: The Yang Dialogues**

"So…" Yang began to ask. "Dude parts."

Weiss put down her book with a sigh. "I swear, Yang if you're just going to make fun of me - "

"Relax, Weissicle, I just want to ask some questions."

"I'm not here to educate you," huffed Weiss.

"Can I get you to say that into my Scroll? I want to play it back the next time you suggest a Team RWBY study session."

Weiss scowled, but relented. "Fine. Just know that I'm only doing this because you're my friend."

Yang smiled brilliantly, pulling Weiss into a big hug. "Aw, I love you too, Weiss-cream!"

"Unhand me, you glandular brute!" Weiss gasped for air as her blonde companion released her. "Ugh. Let's get this over with. What did you want to know?"

"Do you ever pee standing up?"

_"What?!"_

"You know, just whip it out like a squirt gun and mark your territory," Yang pressed on, ignoring the smaller girl's outburst.

"I - no, Yang, I do not urinate in a standing position," said Weiss.

"Why not?"

"What?"

"Why don't you? I would. Aw, I would do _so much stuff_ if I had a dick!" Yang exclaimed, her eyes full of mischievous wonder.

Weiss shuddered at the thought. "I think I just heard all of Remnant breathe a sigh of relief."

"I'd write my name on walls," Yang said.

Weiss just dropped her face into her hands.

"It'd say 'Yang was here,'" the blonde continued, framing an imaginary scene with her hands.

"And let everyone know the identity of the miscreant vandal urinating on buildings," Weiss pointed out, causing Yang's gleeful expression to fall. Weiss rolled her eyes. "Look out, Torchwick, Vale has a new criminal mastermind in town, and she's just relieving herself everywhere! Like a savage animal idiot."

A merciful silence fell between the pair. As the heiress was about to reach for her book once more, Yang broke the silence. "So, how big is it?"

Weiss looked confused. "How big is what?"

"You know, your lady-sausage!"

Weiss turned bright red. "How… how _dare_ you ask something so… crude!"

If Yang noted Weiss's outrage, she ignored it, as an outraged Weiss was pretty much the normal state of affairs for Team RWBY. "So, are we talking banana sized, bratwurst sized…?"

Weiss looked left, then right, making absolutely sure that neither Ruby nor Blake were in the room. The tips of her ears burned as she held up one of her thumbs. "About like this? Maybe a little longer."

Yang just stared at her for a long moment as Weiss shifted uncomfortably. "What?" the heiress finally asked.

"That's it?!" Yang burst. "All of that fuss over just that?! You're practically a chick already!"

"Hey!"

"Oh, you know what I mean," Yang waved dismissively. "It's pretty much just a bigger clit at that point. Sheesh, if I had a dick, it'd be _massive_. I'd use it to pole vault, or club people over the head with it. I'd just whip it out and terrorize my enemies into submission..."

As Yang rambled on about the atrocities she would commit had she possessed a hypothetical mega-phallus, Weiss buried her face in her book, glad that this conversation was finally over. She eagerly looked forward to never having such a conversation with her blonde teammate ever again.

[/]

"Heya, Weiss!" Yang flopped heavily onto the chair next to Weiss, who peered at her curiously.

"Hello, Yang. How are you?"

"I've got questions!"

Weiss's face fell. "Why?"

"Why do I have questions?"

"No, why am I being punished by a universe that so obviously hates me?"

Yang slapped her smaller teammate on the back, drawing an indignant squawk from the heiress. "Aw, don't be like that, Weiss! I'm your old buddy Yang, remember?"

"Oh, but if only I were granted the tender mercy of amnesia."

"Bitch, you love me, don't even lie."

Weiss sighed. Another night with no further progress made in her book, it seemed. "All right, let's hear what sort of wildly inappropriate inquiries you have for me this time."

"That's the spirit!" Yang grinned triumphantly as Weiss just settled onto her bed. "So, you and Vomit Boy are dating now."

"His name is Jaune," Weiss corrected.

"Yeah, Vomit Boy. That's what I said. So anyways, you and he are officially A Thing, right?"

"Your grasp of the obvious continues to astound," snarked Weiss.

"Well, does that mean he's gay?"

Weiss blinked. "What?"

"I mean, you got a dingle-dangle. Not much of one, but it's still there."

Weiss blinked, forcing herself to ignore the usage of the phrase "dingle-dangle." "Well, I'm a girl. He's a guy. That makes it a heterosexual relationship."

"Well, okay, but what happens when you want to bang?"

"I beg your pardon?!"

Yang shrugged. "I mean, you don't gotta beg, maybe just ask nicely. Anyway, when you want to bang him. And don't even try and pretend like it hasn't crossed your mind. We've all seen you looking at him like you wanna eat him."

"If I have ever looked at him in such a fashion, then it is his fault for looking like such a snack," blurted Weiss. She covered her hands with her mouth, but it was too late. Yang just smirked at her.

"So _when_ you decide to bang, how does that play out?"

Weiss blushed as she recalled some of the information from _Loving Trans Women_. "Are you… are you sure you truly wish to know?"

"Please, how bad can it be?"

"Well… there are some options that are also open to cisgender women. Manual stimulation, oral sex, anal penetration. For trans women, that last one has the benefit of stimulating the prostate gland or the seminal vesicles, which I read is supposed to produce quite satisfactory results. Alternatively, applying pressure to the perineum can stimulate the prostate as well. The inguinal canals - the cavities into which I retract my testicles when I wish to tuck - are tender and can accept fingers up to the second knuckle for most people." She paused her anatomical recitation as she noticed that Yang had gone red, her lilac eyes wide. "Yang? What's wrong?"

"I gotta go, bye!" she blurted. Yang actually tripped as she stumbled out of the room.

Weiss just shrugged. Yang was an odd one.

[/]

Yang jumped as Weiss sat delicately next to her on the couch. "Heya, Weiss, what's up?"

"Remember how you used to ask me inappropriate and invasive questions back at Beacon?"

Yang slipped her hands behind her head, taking care not to get any of her hair caught in the joints of her mechanical hand. "If by that, you mean we'd have super-awesome talks about how I'd rule the world if I were rocking dong, then sure. Why, what's up?"

Weiss checked to make sure that they were alone. "How come you never told me about the mouthfeel?"

"The what?"

"The mouthfeel. I took your advice with Jaune, and it was _wonderful,_ but you never told about how his penis would feel in my mouth."

Yang stared at her. "You… you what?"

"I took your advice. From back at the clothing store? Followed it to the letter. I even tied him to the bed first. This was after he did mind-shattering things to me in the shower."

Furiously blushing, Yang crossed her legs tightly. "W-why are you telling me about it?"

Weiss shrugged. "Partially because I thought you deserved to know, seeing as how it was your suggestion, but also so that someone else out there knows that Jaune is a sensitive and caring lover. Gods, he played my body so _well_. Why didn't you let me know how good having an orgasm with someone could feel?"

"I'm a virgin!" Yang squeaked. "I've never actually got anywhere near that far with someone before. I just tease and let people make assumptions, but now you're saying these… these _things_, and my gay little heart can't handle it, so I've gotta go now. Bye!"

With that, Yang outright fled, having been out naughty-talked by the former heiress. "I knew it," Weiss said to herself, allowing herself a smug, self-satisfied smile.

[/][/]

**Author's Note: **_Of course _Yang has an entire Omake dedicated to her being inappropriate. One aspect of _Falling Snow_ has been using the narrative as a vehicle for transfeminine sex education. Also, why is no one talking about the mouthfeel?

**[/][/]**

**Omake: Interruptions**

Winter paused as she saw the small white sock tied to her sister's door. Clearly, someone had demarcated Weiss's room, but to what purpose? Could one of their father's men be after them, preparing a lightning raid to attack her sister? Or maybe one of the White Fang had somehow found her, and was planning to take her out. She drew her saber.

"Hey, Big Weiss, what's -"

Winter held up her hand in a closed fist, signaling for Yang to remain quiet. The blonde's smile fell as she took on a serious demeanor, silently falling into place behind the Atlesian soldier. Winter placed her ear to the door.

"I'm sorry, I'll be a good girl, I promise!" Whoever Weiss was talking to clearly wasn't buying it, as Winter heard a slapping sound, followed by her sister's muffled squeal.

Oh, _hell no_! No one attacked her sister under her very nose!

With a powerful front thrust kick, Winter smashed open the door and stormed inside -

To receive more of an eyeful than she ever would have wanted of her sister's bare bottom as she lay across Jaune Arc's lap. The pale skin of her rear was rosy pink from the spanking she had been receiving.

Behind her, as Winter struggled to form words, Yang started to snicker.

It wasn't just the act of catching Weiss and Jaune in the middle of a naughty roleplay that caused Yang to burst out laughing. Nor was it the tweed jacket and spectacles that he somehow had as part of a 'Professor Arc' persona. It wasn't even the Haven Academy cheerleading uniform that Weiss was wearing, the skirt of which an extraordinarily flustered Weiss tugged back down in a futile attempt to cover her backside. No, it was the set of pom-poms sitting on the bed that finally caused her fragile control to break.

Yang burst out in a full-on belly laugh, falling to the floor, one hand clutching at her gut while the other raised a shaky hand to point at the humiliated couple. Winter's mouth opened and shut, then opened and closed once more before she simply turned on her heel in a precise about-face and left the room, dragging a still helplessly-laughing Yang behind her by the collar of her coat. She slammed the door behind her as she left.

Weiss and Jaune stared at each other. They didn't say anything, as the sheer shocked disbelief that they each felt was so tangible that words just seemed superfluous. After they reached a silent agreement that, yes, that did just happen, Weiss buried her head in a pillow and screamed in humiliation and frustration.

[/]

Breakfast the following morning was an excruciating affair, as the couple sat together in mortified silence. Winter had taken one look at them, flushed in embarrassment, and retreated to the courtyard with an apple in hand. Yang didn't even bother teasing them. She just _smirked._

Poor sweet, silly Ruby was at a loss to explain the dynamics at the table, so she decided to try small talk. Small talk always worked. "So," she said to Weiss in a casual tone. "Yang said you were a cheerleader?"

Weiss's jaw dropped, before she recovered and sent a withering glare in Yang's direction. "Uh, well, it was just a one-time thing, just a silly game with Jaune. No big deal, really."

"Well, can I be a cheerleader too?"

Weiss's jaw resumed its slackened status. Yang's eyes glittered like violet gemstones as she quietly whispered "_this is amazing!"_ Jaune fought to keep his panic under control. This… was a damn tricky spot, and he knew it. If he said yes, well, that could earn him the enmity of his highly-lethal girlfriend. If he shut Ruby down too indelicately, he could upset her, and earn the enmity of her equally-lethal big sister.

Well, sometimes, when all the intelligent routes are closed off, one just has to do something stupid and hope for the best.

"It was a sex thing, Ruby," he said bluntly.

"Oh," she said calmly, returning to her breakfast. "Why didn't you just say so?" Those guys were acting so weird.

[/][/]

**Omake: Boba Tea and Firefly**

Yang easily balanced the cup atop her breasts and drank the boba tea from her straw.

Nora was also able to complete the boba tea boob challenge without issue.

It took some balancing, but Ruby was able to balance the cup atop her breasts and drink the tea from her straw.

Weiss looked at the cup, then at her friends, and finally down at her modest bust. With her trademark little "hmph," she stormed off. She found Jaune polishing his armor.

"Jaune," she whined. "Tell me I'm pretty."

"Were you so inclined, I would take you in a manly fashion," he said absently, not looking up from his armor.

"Because I'm pretty?"

"Because you're pretty."

[/][/]

**Omake:** **Winter Picks a Fight**

Raven Branwen crossed blades with Winter Schnee. "What do you have to say for yourself now, _princess,_" the Bandit Queen spat.

"I'm fucking your brother," Winter replied.

Raven's face twisted in disgust. "Congratulations, you're the thousandth customer. Enjoy the prize."

"Oh, the prize is that Qrow is going to put a baby in me."

"_What?"_

"He might have done the trick last night, but we're going to do it _over _ and _over_ again until we know for sure." Winter's free hand began to caress her own throat before sliding down across her breast. She rubbed her thighs together, sighing in sexual pleasure.

"Stop that!" Raven snapped.

"He's going to plow me like the fertile fields of spring, working his seed _deep_ into my womb," moaned Winter.

"_Stop. It!"_

_Moments later…_

Winter chased Raven around the room. "Your twin brother's semen still seeps down my thigh!"

"Stop talking, I beg of you!" cried Raven.

[/][/]

**Author's Note: **Obviously, that sequence was far too ridiculous and over-the-top to put in the story itself, but those qualities also make for a funny little fragment. Moreso now that Snowbird caught so much flak. Muahaha.

**Omake: Let's Wreck Vernal, Take 1**

Weiss saw Jaune pinned to the floor by that cruel, _evil_ woman. She needed to get to him, immediately, but as she began to make her way, Vernal intercepted her. "Not so fast!"

Thinking quickly, Weiss took stock of what she had available. They hadn't had time to restock, and her backup Dust vials were empty. With that being said, even an empty vial can still have its uses. She surreptitiously palmed an empty glass vial, and, with Aura-enhanced strength, crushed it into powder. Vernal sprang to the attack, catching Myrtenaster and wrenched its lethal tip offline. As she did so, Weiss thrust her offhand forward, hurling powdered glass into Vernal's eyes.

The bandit shrieked and immediately dropped her weapons. On unthinking instinct, she tried to rub the glass out, only to destroy her own corneas by grinding the glass into her eyes. Vernal loosed another blood-curdling shriek as her Aura flared and broke under the hideous assault. With her enemy blinded and defenseless, it was the easiest thing in the world for Weiss to make an upwards thrust. Her rapier stabbed under Vernal's chin and all the way through her skull, erupting from the top of her head. Weiss pivoted to face Cinder, withdrawing her blade with a wet rasp. Vernal was dead before she hit the ground.

[/][/]

**Author's Note: **Just a friendly reminder that swords are not toys, and Aura is there to keep the series from being an unadulterated bloodbath. If you've ever seen the illustrations of old historical fencing manuals, those techniques are hardcore lethal. Rapiers are designed to swiftly dispatch of unarmored humans in single combat. That's just what they're for.

[/][/]

**Omake: Let's Wreck Vernal, Take 2**

Weiss saw Jaune pinned to the floor by that cruel, _evil_ woman. She needed to get to him, immediately, but as she began to make her way, Vernal intercepted her. "Not so fast!"

Flicking her revolving Dust chamber to the required Dust element, Weiss prepared to receive Vernal's attack. The bandit locked her blades around Myrtenaster, pulling it offline to avoid a repeat of her earlier flame trick. So, Weiss just used a different one. She sent Lightning Dust coursing down Myrtenaster's blade, and into Vernal's weapons, which conducted the electricity into her arms.

As Vernal shrieked, convulsing uncontrollably as the power burned her, Weiss used her right hand to retrieve her improvised bomb from her pack. She tossed it between Vernal's feet, the bomb sliding a bit on the puddle forming between the bandit's shaking legs. Weiss retracted her blade and turned away, triggering the bomb to detonate as she dashed away. She didn't know if Vernal would survive, and she didn't much care.

She had a Jaune to rescue.

[/][/]

**Author's Note: **Instead of spending however many months in Atlas, spinning in her room and putting on a concert, the Weiss in this AU has survived months of brutal guerilla warfare against a force bent on killing her, _and_ has had further advanced instruction and tactical reorientation via Winter. Furthermore, since Weiss was never at Raven's camp, they didn't have their weird, bitchy little rivalry going on. Instead, Yang got on Vernal's bad side by threatening her position at Raven's side, and subsequently kicking her ass in the camp. The question wasn't "do I think it within the realm of possibility for Weiss to take Vernal," so much as "how exactly do I want her to do so?"

[/][/]

**Omake: Weiss's Man!**

Cinder stomped down on Jaune's chest with a strength born equally of ancient magic and sheer indignant outrage. "Did you really think that you could beat me? _You?!"_

Her lip curled in a sneer. "I think I _do_ remember you now. You're the failure with a deathwish."

Jaune faced her, resilient in the face of impending death. "If I die buying them time, then it will have been worth it. _They're_ the ones that matter, not me."

Cinder flash-forged a spear and raised it over his heart. "Is that -"

"GET _THE FUCK_ OFF OF _MY MAN!"_

Cinder looked up just in time to see Weiss swinging the heavy sheathed form of Crocea Mors like a club. Weiss hit her like a Mac truck, sending the Maiden rocketing through the wall.

"No one steps on my boyfriend but me!" She declared, as she stood triumphantly over Jaune. Weiss looked around as she realized that everyone had stopped fighting to stare at her. "What? What?"

[/][/]

**On The Depiction of the Characters**

I mentioned early on that I identify most strongly with Weiss out of the entire RWBY cast. I've tried to keep myself separate from her, so as to keep the essential "Weiss-ness" intact through the AU. That is to say, where there are differences between how she would act in canon and how she acts in _Falling Snow_, I try to make sure that there is an explanation in place such that one would nod and say "yeah, I can see canon Weiss behaving like this if under those circumstances."

With that being said, there are bits of me that still show through. The libido is one aspect, I think. The combat pragmatism is another. There are some specific elements of her AU backstory that come directly from my life, specifically the anecdote about her being a kid and bleeding from her face because she didn't know how to shave but was _that desperate_ to get the hair off of her face. Yeah, that was me, but I didn't have a Winter.

Winter's relationship with Weiss is pure wish fulfillment on my part. I deliberately toned down the slapstick physical beating, and made her an extremely protective and dedicated guardian and mentor, as she knows for a fact that Weiss will be in for rough times. I wish I had had a Winter growing up.

I had a Crimson. That… should just about sum up _that_ relationship.

I imagined a sort of ideal romance for Jaune and Weiss, since trans girls have it fucking rough enough already, and it would be nice to see ourselves in situations that aren't all gloom and horror and suffering. I remember reading some of Mallobaude's stories that touched upon the implications of Jaune's Semblance, and decided to adapt that as a metaphor for touch starvation. I remember once in college, one of my classmates just randomly ran her hand up and around my back in the library, and it had been so long since anyone had touched me in a non-hostile way that I couldn't stop myself from breaking down in tears. Right there in the library. It was just such a _relief_.

So, with this story, I took that feeling, multiplied it by _feeling his soul_, and that, combined with Jaune's efforts to be a model boyfriend and Huntsman, explains how Weiss fell for the dolt. One thing about the scene as shown in canon is that there doesn't seem to be any lasting emotional impact to it. "Weiss is dying, Weiss is okay, gg Jaune, movin' on." In my first fanfic, I mentioned briefly that I survived a serious car accident at around that age, and having a brush with death definitely changed my outlook. Weiss realized that her plans and dreams for the future might never come to pass, and both she and Jaune are in an inherently dangerous profession. This will have ramifications going forward.

[/][/]

**On "Identity Politics"**

One reviewer mentioned, as a preface to their comment, that they don't "care for identity politics." Well, me neither, but I kinda don't have a choice in the matter. My ideal situation can be expressed with this exchange:

"I'm transgender."

"Cool, I'm six-two."

That's the ideal, where disclosing that part of one's gender identity is as casual as talking about one's height or hair color, but we simply aren't there yet. We won't ever _get_ there if no one ever pushes society over there.

I'm a librarian in my day job. I would love nothing more than to mind my own business, with books and writings, but I need to keep an eye out to make sure that a new boss doesn't come in and just say "you're out of here, tranny freak," because the state doesn't protect trans people under anti-discrimination laws.

If some guy sees me walking down the sidewalk in a pretty sundress, thinks "wow, she's hot," then freaks out because I'm trans, shooting me in the friggin' chest, the EMTs that respond to the scene are within their legal rights in my state to say "ew, I don't wanna touch that, because…. Jesus, or something." And they could leave me there to _bleed out in the street like a roadkilled dog_.

And there are places in the world that are even worse than that. So, I'm sorry to raise a fuss, but at a certain point, "Identity Politics," become politics of self-defense. I just want to be treated like any other citizen and otherwise left the fuck alone. That's it. That's the big, spooky "Transgender Agenda," that politicians fearmonger about and fundraise off of; let me be pretty and fuck off. Don't know where that falls on a left-right spectrum, but there we go.

[/][/]

**On Feedback**

The vast majority of feedback that I've received on this story has been positive. There have been constructive critiques that have helped me be a better writer, helpful pointing out of typos, and even with the recent Snowbird kerfluffle, the people complaining about it were highly complimentary of the rest of the story. The occasional negative comments, I tried to ignore, or else poked fun at, like the review calling this "the worst fic in RWBY Fandom."

The latest one that I wish to mock comes from an anonymous reviewer who merely wishes to know "if I am some kind of degenerate troglodyte lobotomite bottom-feeding sjw or what." The answer, of course, is "or what." I'm actually a deep state CIA infiltrator, bent on turning the frogs gay by writing a transgender fanfiction about an American anime-esque webseries starring four teenage girls based on fairy tale characters. Ya caught me, Skippy!

At any rate, as of the writing of this intermission, _Falling Snow_ has received 228 follows, 157 favorites, has been archived by 2 community forums, has had 74 permanent reviews, and over 17,500 views. I don't know if that's a lot by the standards of the site, but for someone who wrote her first fanfic less than a year ago, it _seems_ like a lot.

With that being said, the reason I specified "permanent reviews" is because, due to the subject matter, some individuals took it upon themselves to go beyond the dumb commentary as mentioned above, and to post actual hate speech. The latest one that I felt compelled to remove read, and I quote, "This story would be better if Weiss was actually female and he raped her. Anti lgbtqpms."

Whatever shall I do without such a towering example of literary critique on my story's page?

Fortunately, there have been fewer than ten such comments that have been left on this story, which makes me quite happy. (And also worried, now that I've pointed it out.)

The best feedback has come from people who have expressed how this story has impacted them. I had one reviewer admit to be transphobic, but was fascinated by the perspective that they saw here. A guest reviewer, a cis woman, said that she was able to identify with Weiss in the shower sex scene. That's probably one of the more validating comments I've read, as it showed that other women could find commonality in the perspective of a trans woman, as written by a trans woman.

I've had people reach out to me directly. Elderfire1 hand-drew a cover for me. I mentioned a few chapters back that one couple, a trans woman and a cis man, attribute their resolving to form a relationship to this story. A teenaged transgender girl told me that she found the courage to come out to her parents and assert her identity after reading Weiss's confrontation with her father.

I am humbled, and beyond honored, to hear that something that I wrote has had an impact on the lives of other people. It's why I have to work so hard to ensure that my depictions of sex and romance, dysphoria and trauma and healing, that they all are as carefully nuanced and respectful as I can possibly make them, as the readership of this story deserves nothing less.

We're about halfway through the story. Maybe. Ish. Don't count chapters and quote this after the story wraps, damn it. The point is, I have an endstate in mind, and about a good solid third of a plan to get there. The rest comes together naturally. I hope to have you along with me, as this is one hell of a ride.

Love,

Mahina


	10. The Gift

**Author's Note: If this story were "Ninjas of Love," this chapter would be the part where readers go "now that's a katana!" Except instead of a katana, it's a bastard sword. And a rapier. And they're going to fight, in the pantsless sense of the word. Sex. I'm talking about sex. A lot of it, too. Seriously, about half of this chapter is smut. It's just fluff and smut this chapter, both important parts of a balanced breakfast. **

**As before, sex scenes are demarcated with five brackets at the beginning and end, for those disinclined towards glorious, glorious smut. **

[/]

Weiss awoke slowly, stretching like a cat on her bed. The morning light streaming in from her window reminded her of the previous day. How it had begun with a happy breakfast, teasing her sister, and how it had nearly ended with her death.

But…

It _hadn't_.

Weiss was alive, and that meant that she still had the opportunity to do things, to have experiences, and to make an impact on the world around her. She had never before understood what a _gift_ it was to be alive.

And it was thanks to the big lunk slumbering next to her. Jaune dozed, snoring lightly. Weiss frowned as she saw the dark circles under his eyes. Knowing him, the big dunce had probably stayed up most the night watching over her, only succumbing to sleep out of pure exhaustion. This wouldn't do. Jaune had given her all the love and comfort that she could have asked for, and unlocked the mystery of his _soul_ to bring her back from the cold grasp of death. The very least she could do in turn would be to try and reciprocate his soothing presence as best she could.

She leaned over him, brushing his hair from his face and planting the lightest of gentle kisses on his lips. "My hero," she whispered into his ear, before settling in and curling next to him, gently caressing his chest. Though he was asleep, Weiss hoped that some part of him understood her, and drew comfort from it. She drew the covers back over them. Jaune was known to be wounded anyway, so it wasn't as if a late start this morning would be so unusual. Unless there was a full-on Grimm attack, there wasn't anything so important that it couldn't wait a little while longer.

[/]

Winter was _pissed_.

"We walked head-first into an ambush," she began without preamble. Qrow and Ozpin shared a glance before Ozpin gestured for her to have a seat at the small table. The three of them convened in a small office in the house to discuss the events of the previous evening.

"Now, Specialist Schnee, we had no way to know that Lionheart had turned traitor." Ozpin offered, the reasonable words sounding discordantly-mature coming from the small boy whose body he had essentially hijacked. "There was certainly no way to predict that Raven Branwen would have been collaborating with Salem's disciples either."

"You've got a real eye for talent, Ozpin," Winter deadpanned. "Perhaps you could skip the middleman and just put Salem in charge of Haven as the next Headmistress?"

"I understand that you're upset about your sister's close call - "

"Oh, _'upset'_ is nowhere near strong enough a term for what I am right now."

"But I remind you that your sister has undertaken these risks of her own free will, _and _as an adult. You would not be the first to lose a sibling to such tragedy. Do you recall the large man that the students sent flying last night?"

Winter nodded, still fuming, but willing to listen. At least the kids had had the sense to take one look at the rampaging Dust monster and opt to send him far, far away instead of trying to fight him head-on.

"That man was Hazel Rhineheart, a former Huntsman and pupil of mine. His sister, Gretchen, joined Beacon Academy and lost her life in a training mission. He holds me responsible for her death, to such an extent that he joined Salem's forces as a most potent enforcer of her will." He sipped from his mug, gazing down forlornly for a moment before turning that eerie green gaze on her. "I should hope that, had the worst happened, as it may still on the course of this mission, that you would have at least remembered not to let that anger of yours warp you into someone that Weiss would not recognize."

With a deep sigh, Winter let go of her anger. Or at least, the part that was directed at Ozpin. Well, most of that part. On the other hand, if that "Cinder" woman ever dared to show her mangled face again, Winter would dismantle the bitch in alphabetical order and show her the twitching parts before she died.

"Very well. But that still doesn't negate the fact that we've been reacting to what the enemy has done. Against an enemy that has been two steps ahead of us the entire way, fortune will not sustain us for very long."

"Agreed," said Ozpin. "We need to get the Relic to Atlas."

"Good thing you got that gaudy ship of yours." Qrow added, nodding to Winter. "Jimmy's closed the borders, so flying in on an Atlas airship will make things smooth."

"My ship isn't gaudy," protested Winter, to which Qrow just rolled his eyes. "At any rate," she continued, "Perhaps an openly defensive posture on _the General's_ part is not so remiss? First Beacon and now Haven - even an imbecile can see that both Atlas and Shade are in danger."

"Yeah, like the 'openly defensive' posturing that _Jimmy_ pulled back in Vale?" Qrow challenged.

"That was a… tactical misstep against a form of cyberwarfare that Atlas was unprepared to defend against, " Winter insisted. "Now that we've seen such tactics in action, I'm sure that _the General_ has top personnel developing countermeasures."

"Yeah, whatever," Qrow waved dismissively. "And _I'm _sure that strangling the Dust trade and telling the rest of Remnant where they can all shove it is doing _wonderful_ things for morale out here. I'm sure they're thanking ol' _Jimmy_ with every empty Dust canister!"

Ozpin cleared his throat. "If we may get back on track… and resume our seats," he added, causing both Qrow and Winter to look down in surprise that they had both risen to their feet. "Access to the _Stardust_ will no doubt facilitate this trek immensely, but there could still be danger in the skies. To that end, we should allow the students some time to recuperate, reflect, and reconnect with their reunited comrades.

"Yes, of course," Winter said. "I can also send for a Specialist resupply that will arrive via drone airship. Dust, ammunition, lien, the essentials."

"Does it come with whiskey?"

Winter shot Qrow a withering look. "I am _not _facilitating your vices."

"Why not? You facilitate my vices, and I'll facilitate yours," he said with a wink.

"Spoken like a man who never wants to be _facilitated_ again."

Once again, Ozpin coughed awkwardly. "Well then, if there is nothing else to be brought to my attention, I do believe that I'll adjourn, and let you two work it out amongst yourselves." He smiled at their expressions as he turned to leave the office. Honestly, kids these days.

[/]

Weiss and Jaune were greeted by a chorus of greetings as they finally made their way down the stairs. The rest of the teens were filling in Blake as to their adventures during their time away. Blake tried hard not to stare at Weiss's attire, as she had donned her only other outfit, the one she'd made back in Atlas.

"Wow," the cat Faunus began. "That's… quite the different look for you, Weiss."

Weiss made a face as she held up the bustier and bolero jacket in her hand. "A certain _someone_ put holes in my only other outfit last night."

"And in your torso," Yang said darkly.

"What?" Blake looked to Weiss in concern.

"Well, I wasn't _entirely_ unscathed in the fight last night," the fencer began. "But, Jaune unlocked his Semblance and saved me! Isn't he amazing?" she finished brightly. Jaune felt all eyes turn to him and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"I was just glad I could help," he said modestly.

"Pfft, stuff that," Nora interjected. "Jauney, your Semblance is _awesome!_ Can you control it?"

Jaune held up a hand, which began to glow with a pale yellow Aura. "I think so. Or, at least, I can call it up at will now. It… boosts Aura, I think. Amplifies it beyond what it can normally do. It healed Weiss, and when I kept going, she was able to summon an _enormous _Nevermore."

"It fits that such a wonderful man has such a wonderful Semblance," Weiss said, hugging Jaune while being careful not to aggravate his ribs.

"So, what did it feel like?" Nora asked.

"I could feel his soul," gushed Weiss. "It was like a gentle sunny spring afternoon, like the feeling of when everything's right in the world…"

As Weiss spoke, her eyes glistening as she extolled Jaune's virtues, Blake leaned over to mutter to Yang, "Wow, they were close before, but now they're super into each other."

"It's pretty much an open bet as to who gets hitched first, her and Jaune or Ren and Nora," Yang replied, in the same muffled volume. "I kinda wanna mess with her."

Blake wanted to say, "Yang, no!" if only to provoke the familiar "Yang, yes!" response, but she was unsure if such casual familiarity would be welcome after her… _absence_.

"So," Yang started. "If it boosted your summoning ability, wouldn't his Semblance boost the rest of ours too? Maybe we should practice with him."

"What?" Weiss grabbed Jaune's arm protectively. "But… you can't!"

There was a pause as everyone, even Jaune, turned to regard the white-haired girl curiously.

"What can't they do?" Winter asked as she strode into the living room.

Yang's face was a picture of innocence. "We were just discussing Jaune's new trick. Wouldn't it be smarter for all of us to practice with him, so we can see what happens when he amplifies our Semblances?"

"I see no harm in it," Winter said, slightly mystified as to why her sister could possibly object to such a thing.

"Yeah, Weiss-capades, I don't know why you're bent about it."

Weiss's face contorted as if pained. "It's… well… if you feel him the way I do, you'll fall in love with him too!" she finally got out.

The only sound to break the silence came from Winter's palm impacting her own forehead. "Weiss… just why do you think that?"

The younger Schnee sister looked mildly embarrassed. "Well, whenever he touches me, it always makes me feel so… good."

Winter looked over to Jaune. "And how often have you been touching my sister?"

"As much as she wants me too," came the honest reply.

Yang raised her hand. "Wait, if the touch triggers it, why didn't you feel that way after he caught you? You know, after you fell from the Nevermore in Initiation? I remember you clinging to him pretty tightly back then."

Weiss coughed. "Well, the first time was after that, but before the dance we shared together. I think it was when he kissed my hand after he sang to me to ask me out."

Winter just looked at her. "Wasn't that around the time you wrote and said that some boy was annoying you?"

Somehow, Weiss managed to look even _more_ embarrassed. "Well, obviously I changed my mind," she said sheepishly.

"So the boy caught you in midair, serenaded you and took you dancing. Such a harrowing experience. My heart bleeds for you, sister," Winter deadpanned. "Truly, it does."

"I think you're being a little… insecure about this," Ren interjected, trying and failing to find a less blunt way to put it. "Even if two people see the same qualities in the same person, it isn't like they will react to it in the precise same manner."

"Right!" Nora added. "It's like how I'm all like… y'know, and Ren's all like… y'know, and all of you guys can tell that we're like… y'know, but it means different things to us than to you guys!"

"That almost made sense," Blake said in mild wonder.

"Aww, I missed you too, Flakey Blakey!"

The former White Fang operative _wanted_ to protest the moniker, but in light of her actions after the Fall, she had no recourse but to sigh in acceptance.

"Look, I'm sure you're just worrying about nothing, Weiss," Ruby said, throwing her two lien into the mix. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll go first. I'm both ace and aromantic, so I really doubt anything's going to change if he uses his Semblance on me."

Weiss also wanted to protest, as Ruby was both Jaune's first friend at Beacon and had spent months together on the road with him as part of Team RNJR. But, she eventually recognized that she was being both insecure and more than a little possessive, so she reluctantly nodded.

"It'll be fine, Weiss," Jaune reassured her as Ruby stood up.

"Okay Jaune, just touch me whenever you want!" Ruby cried.

"Wait, what?" Yang did not appreciate the turn her glorious mischief had just taken.

Jaune rolled his eyes, recognizing Ruby's counter-prank for what it was. "Har-har, Rubes. You're giving both Weiss and your sister a heart attack." With that he put his hand on her shoulder, and after a second, the two began to glow with Aura.

"It's only a little, since my Aura's still fixing my ribs," Jaune announced to the room. "Well, how did it feel, Ruby?"

Silver eyes blinked. "Well, I mean… it was kinda nice. Felt like you, all dorky and kind. Friend-shaped. You know, like Jaune!"

"So… you're not -" Weiss began to ask.

Ruby snickered. "Nah, none of the mushy feels. I think your going all goo-goo over him is on you, Weiss. I mean, I can see the appeal, especially for a lonely girl who needed what he has going on, but for me? Nah, I'm good."

Weiss slumped in relief. Truthfully, she didn't know what she would do if Ruby Rose developed those feelings for Jaune. Their long and easy friendship - not to mention Ruby's _maturing_ growth since Beacon - would have made Ruby formidable competition indeed.

Nora piped up again. "So now that we've established that Jaune's Semblance isn't a love potion and that Weiss was just being silly -"

"Hey!"

"Oh, you were and you know it," Nora retorted. Weiss just folded her arms over her chest. "So, what's on the agenda today?"

Jaune shrugged. "I'm on the mend, so nothing too strenuous. I'll need to get my armor fixed."

"Sewing, apparently," Weiss said, looking once more at her torn outfit.

The others quickly made their plans, with Ruby, Ren and Nora all going to the forge to help Jaune fix his armor, Weiss going with her sister to patch her outfit, and Blake and Yang to try and reconnect, in gloriously awkward fashion.

[/]

Weiss sat on the floor in front of her sister's bed, having procured needle and thread to patch her clothing. As she worked, Winter sat behind her, running a comb through her hair. With it being about as long as Ruby's, it reminded them both of younger days. Truthfully, Weiss's hair didn't need the grooming, but the girl knew that it was as much a comfort to Winter as to herself.

"You need to be more careful in the future," Winter told her. "Your boyfriend may not be around the next time such an injury occurs."

"It was one thing to be taken off guard, but the Cinder woman…" Weiss shook her head. "Winter, my Aura was _full_, or near enough as to make no difference. She broke it in one hit. She cracked Jaune's armor with her _foot_. Whatever it is that she's become, I don't know that conventional strength-at-arms will be sufficient to put her down for good."

"Than we turn to _unconventional_ means," Winter said. "Lure her into a room filled with plastic explosives. Suicide crash an airship into her face. Kick her into a vat of molten iron. I'm sure there's some way to kill her for good."

"And I'm sure you spent last night thinking of them all."

"I can neither confirm nor deny that supposition," the elder woman said wryly. "Weiss, this fight is extraordinarily dangerous, as you've seen. It may be more prudent for you to… withdraw from it. To finish your education, and move on from this Huntress life."

Weiss frowned. "First of all, the enemy knows Ruby by name, and is hunting her specifically. I _will not_ abandon my friend." She quirked her lip as she pulled the thread through the bolero, moving closer to finishing the patch. "But secondly… last night, Winnie, I discovered something about myself."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"I'm greedy."

Winter stopped combing. "What? Weiss, that's preposterous! You gave up a life of wealth and privilege to assert yourself, to - "

"Not for money or power," interrupted Weiss. "But for experiences. In that, I am just as greedy as our father, maybe even moreso. I want to keep my friends safe. I want to finish this insane mission we're on, and find the answers to the mysteries of our world. But I don't want to stop there. I want to discover new frontiers, and accomplish things no one else ever has. I want to make our family name revered instead of feared. I want to marry Jaune someday, and have a family together. I want all of it, Winter. I won't give up one to obtain another, or abandon one because it isn't safe. I will have _all of it_, and that means that I need to be strong enough to go out and claim it as my own."

"And what if your boy says no to that?"

"I… I need to talk to him," Weiss admitted. "About the future. About _our_ future, if he wants it. And if we're to have it, than I also need him to keep from hurting himself, or trying to commit suicide by enemy."

"Some men seem bent on finding an early end," Winter cautioned her.

"All the more reason. Someone needs to remind him that it's okay for him to be alive, and to just enjoy living. I just hope that I can be enough."

"You'll always be more than enough," her sister told her. "I don't think you know how to do merely enough."

Weiss nodded agreeably, until she remembered some other ways by which that statement could be taken.

"Hey!"

Winter just chuckled as she resumed combing Weiss's hair.

[/]

With the resources of the Haven Academy Forge, the basic reforging of Jaune's cuirass was a simple matter. Nora had quickly grown bored of watching the metals shift colors in the heat and alloy, and had dragged Ren off to do who-knows-what. Jaune just snorted in amusement as he set in to watch the tempering process go through.

"Thanks for helping me with this, Ruby," he told her.

"Well, we can't have you getting squashed, now can we?" she asked in response. "Besides, Weiss would never forgive me if you got ganked and I could've prevented it."

"Ah, altruism through self-preservation, eh?"

Ruby punched him in the shoulder. "Shaddup, you're my friend too."

"Friend enough to punch a wounded man," Jaune whined.

The roughhousing settled down as the metal took the proper temper. Working carefully, they quickly quenched it in oil, flames rising from the barrel as the cuirass took its final set. Setting it carefully on an insulated table to cool, Ruby popped her safety mask up. "So, what do we do while it cools? You can't try it back on until it does."

"Actually," Jaune reached into his pocket and pulled out the tip of the Mistrali Bronze dagger. "I think I want to make something out of this, if you're willing to help."

"Aw, that's all that's left of the dagger?" Ruby asked. "I don't think there's enough there to make a weapon out of it."

"Actually, I had something else in mind for this. We need this and a little bit of white steel."

"What do you want to make out of that?" Ruby asked, curious.

Jaune told her.

Ruby squeed.

"Shhh, already!" Jaune shushed her, looking around. "You need to keep this to yourself, okay? No one else can know about it until the time is right, not even Yang."

"Yeah, _especially _Yang," Ruby agreed. "Okay, let's get started."

[/]

They met in the courtyard, sharing a bench looking out onto the mountains. Jaune's armor now looked as fresh as the day it was forged. Like her skin, Weiss's outfit had been repaired to such an exacting degree that even close examination made it hard to find where it had been damaged.

"There's my knight in shining armor," she said with a smile.

"Slightly dinged, but otherwise unharmed," he boasted. He gave a dramatic sigh. "Not gonna lie, I miss the abs."

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "The abs are still there, you dunce, just not for the whole world to see."

"That's a shame. I kinda want to go around proclaiming 'gaze upon my girlfriend's midriff, ye mighty, and despair!'"

"Was that a literary reference? I may swoon."

"Yes, I've read a book before. Try to remain calm."

She rested her head upon his shoulder. "I can only promise to try. You make doing so rather difficult at times." They sat together quietly for a moment, just enjoying the atmosphere and each other's company. Weiss reveled in each sensation, in the feeling of him beneath her head, the way his hand pulled her in close as he had reached over to her. The sight of the sunlight streaming in golden pillars through rainclouds over the mountains, and the scent of fresh oil that clung to him from the forge.

"Jaune?"

"Hm?"

"Do you ever think about… the future? About our future together?"

He took a deep sigh. "If you had asked me that yesterday, I would have told you 'no.'"

She looked up in surprise. "What? Why not?"

"For the longest time, I tried to just focus on keeping one foot in front of the other. Looking back was too painful, and looking forward?" He brushed his hair back with his hand. "It's just… the future might never come, and… I didn't know that I deserved to have a future."

Weiss sat up straight. "Jaune, what do you mean by that?"

His gaze was distant past the mountains. "Ever since the Fall, since Pyrrha died… I blamed myself. Ozpin too, and Cinder most of all, but still, I had a part in it. _I_ cheated my way into Beacon because _I_ wanted to be a big damn hero. If I hadn't done that… Pyrrha would probably have been partnered up with you, or with Ruby. Anyone she would've partnered up with would have been better prepared to go up with her on that tower. But because I was there, weak, _stupid_ Jaune, she wasted the whole first year training me instead of getting stronger herself. Because _I_ was there, she sent me away and chose to fight _that bitch_ on her own."

Weiss's heart broke to hear him speak of himself in such a way. "Jaune… you can't blame yourself for Pyrrha's death."

"Pretty sure I can. I have lots of practice at it too."

"Pyrrha should have run."

Jaune stared at her as if she'd slapped him across the face. "The battle was over." Weiss added. "There was nothing more that she could have achieved there, and she knew that she couldn't win. Jaune, she _knew." _He started to look away from her, so she reached over and turned his face back to him, her hand on his cheek, and a sad smile on her face. "She sent me a message, Jaune. She told me to take care of you, that you wouldn't understand why she did what she did. Jaune, she knew that she wasn't coming back, and she chose to go anyway. That wasn't your decision. It was hers."

He sat there, speechless, as if unable to process what Weiss had just told him. "But -"

"No buts, Jaune. She wouldn't have wanted you to kill yourself, and she absolutely would not have wanted it to be due to guilt over her own death."

They once more fell quiet, words replaced by occasional sniffles as Jaune tried, and failed, to keep himself from crying. Weiss pulled him down to rest his head in her lap, stroking his hair and humming, lightly singing a soothing tune to him. For the first time in her life, Weiss wished that she did not inherit the Schnee Semblance, wishing instead for the ability that Jaune had to share his soul at will. Without that mystic ability, all that she could do was to show him that she loved him the conventional way, by heeding his emotions, being strong when he couldn't be, and easing the pain as best she could.

After a time, Jaune's tears came to an end. She still kept stroking his hair and humming to him, occasionally leaning down to kiss him on his forehead.

"... I didn't know you sang," he eventually said.

"I always wanted to sing, but it was safer for me to keep a low profile until Beacon," she answered.

"You have a lovely voice," he told her.

"I happen to have _excellent_ vocal control, as it helps keep questions to a minimum."

"Oh?"

"Indeed," she answered. However, she answered in an entirely different voice, one she almost never used. It was a man's voice. A particularly _androgynous_ man's voice, but a man's voice nonetheless.

She giggled at the startled look on his face. "My only regret is not having my Scroll in hand to record your face," Weiss said, her voice back to its normal, slightly prissy and feminine state.

"Well, if being a Huntress doesn't pan out, you could always get work as a voice actor," he said, having recovered.

"I'll file that one behind smut mogul," she replied.

"I… you've got a lot of things about you I still don't know about, huh?"

"Mmhm."

"Yet you're comfortable telling me now?"

"Mmhm."

"Well, okay… what's something else I don't know about you?"

"I had to have permanent hair removal on my face because I was in serious danger of growing a mustache."

Jaune peered up at her. "I don't believe it," he finally declared.

"Honest. Winter found me with my face cut up, trying to shave. The Weiss-stache needed to die, so that all of Remnant might live."

They shared a laugh at the idea of her with a mustache. "So this would make this the second time you've gone out to save the world."

"What can I say, I'm a philanthropist."

"I was going to go with 'merciful and benevolent goddess', but hey, you do you." He smiled up at her.

She resumed stroking his hair. "Earlier, when you said that you hadn't thought about our future until last night… I'm guessing that changed after the fight?"

"Yeah. When I saw you there… Weiss, you weren't breathing. I thought I'd lost you forever, and I… I just couldn't. I couldn't imagine living in a world without you in it. And… did you know that I felt you too?"

"You did?" Weiss supposed it made sense. Touch was usually a two-way sense when one person touched another, after all.

"Yeah. Weiss, I don't think you understand just how amazing you truly are. You're like… a shining silver star in the night sky," he said. "One moment, you're this ethereal, divine beauty, and the next, you've got your hands on your hips while you chastise us all like some aggravated princess, and then the next, you're popping strawberries into my mouth like a smitten young girl. You're… you're elegance and strength and towering intellect and goofy little moments that you only share when you're truly happy. You're just… you're so…"

He gave up trying to find the words and sat up, capturing her lips in a deep and passionate kiss. Weiss poured everything she had into it, hoping with all her heart that he could feel even a fraction of just how much she loved him. She swung a leg over to sit atop his lap, running her hands through his hair and down his chest. His hands felt huge on the small of her back and running up under her bolero to slide across the bare skin between her shoulder blades.

She moaned into his mouth at the feeling of him. Weiss wanted him, and in the worst way… but first, they needed to clarify where they stood. So, through great force of will, and with no little regret, she eventually pried herself off of him. The two panted heavily from their brief, but passionate make-out session.

"You. Me. Future." she pointed out, with all of the carefully-cultivated articulation at her considerable command.

Jaune snorted in amusement. "Right. The point is… I can't imagine my life without you in it. So… I guess I'm in it for the long haul. If you are, that is."

Weiss fixed him with a look. "Jaune. I need you to promise me that you'll come back to me. No more running off half-cocked against insane odds."

"...Weiss, we're Hunters."

"I know that!" she cried. "But that doesn't mean you have to be _stupid_ about it! It means you don't go picking fights with Boulder Geists armed with only a dagger! It means you don't go charging across the field to take on some madwoman with insane, eldritch powers!" Weiss calmed herself, with visible effort.

"You know that in our profession, we could die at any moment," he said. "And with my Semblance, it's entirely possible that I could be called upon to strip away my own defenses to aid another. That's… well, that's just my nature. It's who I am." He faltered as he saw those pale blue eyes of hers well with tears. "But… Weiss, I can't promise you that I'll survive. But I can promise you that I can try. Especially to keep another promise."

As she watched him, her shock was complete as he went to one knee and presented a box to her. Inside, rested a small ring of white steel, with the twin Arc crescents inset in Mistrali Bronze. It was a surreal moment as time seemed to stop for her. Distantly, she felt her hands over her lips, and then she was nodding, nodding so hard that she worried her head might pop off from the force of it. Her view of Jaune slipping the ring over the heartfinger of her left hand was obscured as she began tearing up, and before she knew it, she had jumped into his arms, toes dangling off the ground as she kissed him over and over again. He spun her around in pure, ecstatic joy

Eventually, he set her back down again, and she watched as he presented her with a second, much larger ring. The inverse of hers, it was made primarily of Mistrali Bronze, and bore her snowflake emblem in white steel inlaid into the metal. The ring fit over his gauntlet, and she slid it over the heartfinger of his left hand. She beamed up at him. He smiled down at her.

She pulled him down into another kiss, one foot popping up behind her to keep her balance.

And for just a moment, everything was all right in the world.

[/]

Ruby was the first to know, as she saw them entering the house. "Did you -" She cut off as Weiss held up her left hand, showing the ring that now adorned it. "Weeeeeeeeeiss!" Ruby dashed over in a cloud of roses. "Oh, I'm so happy for you guys!"

Further inside, Blake and Yang's "discussion" had reached the point of shouting and throwing things.

"All I said is that I can protect you!"

"I don't need to be _protected_, you cat-eared ditz, I need to _not_ be _abandoned!_"

"I said I was sorry!"

"Sorry doesn't make up for how I felt when I came to all alone!"

Jaune rubbed the back of his head as Weiss pulled a face. "Are they, uh, are they going to be okay?" he asked.

"Hm? Oh yeah, that's just how it goes. Trust me, it'd be a lot worse if they sat there pretending that nothing was wrong. It should be smooth sailing in a few days. Hang on, I'll go get them."

Ruby dashed into the kitchen, where Yang currently held the house's supply of tuna hostage over an open garbage can. "Tell me I need protecting _one more time,_ Kitty-cat, and the tuna gets it!"

"You wouldn't!"

"I would."

"You shouldn't!"

"I should."

"Shut up!" Ruby interrupted, snatching the tuna out of Yang's hand. "Weiss is getting married!"

"What?!"

As Ruby dashed upstairs to notify the other, hiding, inhabitants of the house, the two feuding members of Team RWBY immediately ceased their argument and ran into the living room. There, a _glowing _Weiss showed them her new ring. There was much shrieking and crying and hugging and communal jumping up and down, the age-old sacrament of young women upon the notification that one of their own was engaged to be wed.

Jaune carefully backed away from the feminine madness that was overtaking the living room.

Said madness only increased as Nora came thundering down the stairs to join the cluster. Ren warily slid next to Jaune. "You realize, of course, that you've sealed my fate with this maneuver, right?" he told his team leader and brother-in-arms.

"I have no idea what you mean," lied Jaune with a straight face.

"You mean it was forged in the bonds of friendship and then quenched with the blood of our enemy?!" Nora's cry rang out through the room after Weiss told them the origins of their engagement rings. "Ren! We need to up our game!"

"Romance isn't a competition, Nora," Ren answered back, to which Nora simply gave the raspberry.

"No idea whatsoever," Jaune said.

Winter just sighed wistfully as she observed her sister. At least she wasn't taken by _complete_ surprise, though when Weiss said she was going to get what she wanted, she apparently wasted _no _time. Even Winter had to admit that she had never seen such unrestricted joy on her sister's face, so she supposed that it wasn't the worst thing in the world. She'd apparently fallen in love with the boy's _soul_, so really, there wasn't much that Winter could have done about it. Well, nothing that didn't require disposing of any bodies, and she could never bring herself to hurt Weiss by doing swift and savage murder upon the boy she loved. Though she'd still make sure to get her baby sister one hell of a pre-nup.

"You know, when I asked if I should begin planning a wedding ceremony, that was meant to be in jest."

The crowd of young women around Weiss parted like curtains as the formidable Atlesian soldier addressed her little sister. Weiss nervously held up her left hand, then began rubbing the Arc insignia in her ring, the birth of a new nervous tic. "Well… you see...surprise!" Weiss, having run out of intelligent things to say, simply blurted out the most ridiculous possible statement.

Ruby facepalmed.

Winter just rolled her eyes and strode over to her little sister, pulling her into a tight embrace. "I'm happy for you, sister," she said. Then she pointed behind Weiss, to where Jaune stood. "You! Pre-nuptial agreement!"

"Winter!" Weiss chastised her sister.

"All I want is her love," Jaune answered, to a chorus of "aws" around the room.

If the boy handled his sword the way he handled his tongue, he might've been able to take down Cinder. Winter was also vaguely annoyed at all the young women who were acting like… well, like young women. Okay, so _Winter_ may have been a young woman too, but she would _never_ behave in such an undignified manner.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Qrow asked from the living room entrance.

"Uncle Qrow! Weiss and Jaune are gonna get married!"

Qrow scoffed. "Way to go, dumbass," he called out to Jaune. "It'll all end in tears."

"Don't ruin this for my sister with your relentless pessimism, Qrow," Winter told him.

"A pessimist is what an optimist calls a realist," he retorted.

Ruby kicked him in the shins. "Hey, you be nice!"

"Thank you, Miss Rose," Winter thanked the girl.

"No problem." She turned to her uncle. "So, you're not saying you'd never get married yourself?"

"Pfft, yeah right. I ain't the marryin' kind, kid."

Yang slid next to her sister, giving Qrow the ol' Niece One-Two. "Not even if the right woman came around?"

Qrow took a draw from his flask. "No woman's right enough to make a marriage work with the likes of me."

The sisters shared a look, and then a glance at Winter. "What about you, Miss Winter?" Ruby asked the soldier.

"I am an officer in the Atlesian military. I have little time for such involved relationships."

Ruby's silver eyes narrowed. "Wait, so does that mean you're using my uncle as a booty call?"

Winter flustered. "There are different, erm, 'levels' of relationships, you know. Not everyone is so fortunate to bond on such a spiritual level as my sister and her intended, after all. There can be levels of emotional intimacy between this so-called 'booty call' and a full-on marriage, Ruby Rose."

"...sure," Ruby said, not quite buying it. In her opinion, romance was a lot like wearing high heels and fancy clothing; not for her, but a great deal of fun to watch other people try it. With both her uncle and her partner's sister claiming disinterest in marriage, Ruby Rose, Matchmaker Extraordinaire, would make it a persistent secondary objective to deepen that relationship. If nothing else, Qrow needed someone with the iron will that drag him kicking and screaming towards a less self-destructive lifestyle, and Winter needed someone to melt her into someone more closely resembling an actual person.

Meddling in other people's lives? Eh, maybe, but when it all worked out, who would they be thanking? Ruby Rose, that's who!

Blissfully ignorant of the oncoming train wreck forming in the mind of Ruby Rose, the rest of the teenagers began preparing for a massive, impromptu party. They had much to celebrate: the defense of Haven, the retrieval of the Relic, Blake's return, Weiss's survival, Jaune's unlocking his Semblance, the engagement, and just the sheer joy of being there together, alive and safe, even if just for the time being.

[/][/][/][/][/]

That evening, Weiss pulled Jaune into their room to check on how his ribs were healing. She took off his armor, hoodie and shirt, and then began unwrapping the bandages from his torso. _It's a bit like unwrapping a present,_ she thought to herself.

"What's with the grin?" Jaune asked her. She quickly realized that she'd been leering at him again, and reset her face into a more neutral expression.

"I'm merely pleased to see the extent of your recovery," she lied shamelessly. While she _was_ glad to see he was on the mend, the interplay of the musculature laid bare to her gaze had far more to do with her satisfied gaze. It played a role in her quickening heartbeat as well.

Weiss lightly ran her fingers down his sides, pressed in occasionally and instructing him to take deep breaths. She found no indications of fracturing, and Jaune was able to inhale and exhale fully without pain or restriction.

"I never get used to how amazing Aura really is," Jaune remarked.

"Indeed," agreed Weiss. "But you're not fully healed yet, I'm afraid."

"But… I feel just fine."

Weiss unclasped her jacket and let it fall to the side. She placed a finger on his chest and lightly pushed until the back of his knees hit the bed and he sat upright. "Well, Doctor Schnee says that you're in need of more treatment," she told him, her grin belying the faux-grave tone of her voice. "I'll need to administer it personally."

She stood between his legs and kissed him, before tossing her head back to grant him access to her neck and throat, which he began to nibble and kiss. While Weiss ran her hands along his back, as sure as clockwork, Jaune's roaming hands made their way up under her skirt and onto her rear.

"I daresay you're a fan of that part of me," Weiss giggled.

"I'm a fan of all of you," he responded.

"It's okay if you're not into my breasts," she told him. "They're too small, and I - "

She cut off with a gasp as he began kissing her upper chest, the decolletage above her breasts. Jaune's hands migrated north, sliding above her bustier before tugging it down. He kept going, pulling down her skirt as well, leaving Weiss almost entirely exposed to him in her pale blue thong panties. Jaune proceeded to lavish attention on her breasts, kneading the soft tissue with strong fingers and teasing her nipples with quick, light caresses of the rough tips of his thumbs. That left the rosy peaks standing erect from her chest, as if demanding further stimulation. Weiss found that one of her breasts would fit flawlessly into the palm of his hand, as if sculpted to form a perfectly complementary set.

"Some of us guys actually prefer them on the smaller side, you know," Jaune pointed out.

Weiss held him close to her chest as he began to suckle on one of her breasts, the action sending jolts of pleasure through her. The feel of his lips pulling gently on her nipple caused her to moan in pure sensual bliss. Far too soon for her liking, Jaune pulled away from her.

"Jaune? What's wrong?"

Instead of answering, he abruptly scooped her up into his arms, lifting her up and off of her feet. He carried her to a far wall, one with a full-length dressing mirror set on it, and placed her in front of it. "Do you see that beautiful girl in the mirror, Weiss?" Jaune asked from behind her. One of his hands resumed idly toying with her right breast, while he used the other to lightly trace a circle over her bare left hip. Weiss placed one of her hands over his arm, and the other reached up and behind her to rest along his cheek. Her entire body was on display, and she could feel his arousal straining at the denim prison of his pants.

"Jaune…"

"That woman is Weiss Schnee, the most amazing girl on Remnant. She's the girl I love, the girl I'm going to marry, and every part of her is gorgeous." As he spoke, the hand on her hip migrated to her front, carefully slipping underneath her panties. Jaune found that she had tucked, using the compression off her tight underwear to hold everything in a neat little package.

"Can I…?" He asked her.

Weiss took a deep breath. "Yes. Only you may."

With gentle, deft fingers, Jaune released her. Her semi-hardened penis rose from where it had rested enveloped in the loose flesh of her scrotum. That, in turn filled as her testicles descended from her body, the sack sinking slightly as it resumed its natural state. His hand withdrew from her underwear just long enough for him to tug the panties down to her knees. Before Weiss could begin to tell her not to look, Jaune buried his face in her neck once more, sucking and biting at her soft skin.

"Every part of you is gorgeous," he repeated into her ear, somewhere between a whisper and a growl. Weiss shivered in delight as he used his thumb and forefinger to work her. He brushed the thumb across the top of the head, while sliding his index finger up and down her small, sensitive shaft. She raised her hands to lean forward against the wall, watching the woman in the mirror as her eyes fluttered in pleasure. Jaune curled his middle finger underneath her, sinking the digit deep into the soft flesh of her scrotum. Passing between her testicles, he used the tip of his longest finger to carefully, but firmly, press against the very root of her stem, one of the secret places that were tender to the touch.

She bit her lip, barely containing a deep moan as Jaune masturbated her. He picked up the pace, working her quicker and quicker. She watched as the beautiful woman in the mirror flushed deeply, her eyelids half-closed and heavy as she succumbed to the erotic sensations.

Weiss leaned forward and kissed her own reflection as she came.

It was a different sensation than what she had experienced two nights previous. Instead of building up from within her core and spreading outwards, this orgasm built away from her, centered in her penis until it poured over. To say that she ejaculated would be too strong a term; her atrophied phallus sent a small surge of seminal fluid up and out, to ooze gently into the palm of Jaune's hand.

As soon as the sensation of a penile orgasm passed, Weiss turned around and immediately began kissing Jaune. "I love you," she panted. "I love you, I love you, I -" she raised his palm to her mouth and licked her own fluids from it. Then she began fumbling with his belts and pants, practically ripping the latter open. As soon as his own cock sprang free of his boxers, Weiss fell to her knees and practically attacked it with her mouth, greedily sucking on it as if it held the ambrosia of the gods.

Jaune was caught off-guard by his new fiancee's passionate move. He ran his fingers through the silky smooth hair on her head, gasping as her rough tongue flicked out to tease the slit at the end of his member. As Weiss bobbed her head back and forth, a thought occurred to her. While all well and good for everyday occasions, tonight was _special. _And as such, she wanted something even better than the already great feeling of fellating her man into oblivion. With a loud smack of her lips, she withdrew from him and rose to her feet.

"You stay right here," she told him. "I'll be right back." With that, she quickly donned her bathrobe, cinching it closed tightly.

"Wait, back? Where are you going?"

Weiss just kissed him once more and dashed from the room, leaving Jaune erect and confused.

[/]

Weiss padded silently through the house on her bare feet. So far, no sign of anyone else. Good. Ren and Nora were probably in their room, up to the same sort of activity that she and Jaune had been. A quick glance out the window showed that Winter and Qrow had resolved their friendly spar in the courtyard by dint of dropping their weapons and engaging in a little moonlit necking. She didn't know why Ruby had instigated the fight between the two, but the mischief-making girl was nowhere to be seen.

She could hear Yang and Blake continuing their discussion in the living room. She knew she had no chance of evading the Faunus girl's superior hearing, but hopefully she would be too engrossed in rebuilding bridges with Yang to pay attention to the white-haired girl making her way into the kitchen. Weiss went to the pantry and began rummaging around. Where was it, where was it? Aha!

Weiss pulled out the bottle of olive oil and held her prize to her chest. Not the greatest lubricant that modern science could produce, but hundreds of years of Mistrali history had demonstrated its effectiveness for just this purpose. And after all, when in Mistral, do as the Mistrali do, right?

As she ran upstairs, she silently gave thanks to the olives for their sacrifice. They might have died extra-virgin, but not Weiss Schnee! She was going all the way tonight!

There was one last step before she could make that happen, though. She stopped off at an extra bathroom, locking the door behind her and double checking that it was good and locked. In a miscellaneous medical kit under the sink, she found a single-use, disposable enema. Cleanliness was important, after all. It's just a pity that it added another step between now and fitting as much of Jaune within her as she possibly could. Her genitals ached in protest, as wondering how much she could take within her caused her penis to try, and fail, to rise once more. It had seen more strenuous use this past week than her entire life previous.

She applied the enema and counted off in her head, making sure that it had enough time to ensure that she was thoroughly clean back there. It couldn't be an everyday thing, as too much would disrupt the normal biota of intestinal germs that ensured healthy digestion, but for special occasions, it would be fine.

Finally, Weiss was good and clean and ready. She tried not to tear the door off the hinges as she reentered her room.

[/]

Weiss popped back into their room just as suddenly as she had left it. Jaune paused in confusion, seeing that she now carried a bottle of olive oil and a latex medical glove.

"Hey, what's that for?"

She stalked over to him, setting the items down on the nightstand. She chewed her lip before looking up at him, blushing heavily. "Jaune… do you know what I want you to do to me tonight?"

He shook his head.

"Jaune… I want you to take that glove and that olive oil, and I want you to… lubricate me. In my… rear," she said. She began to speak more forcefully as she worked up the nerve to communicate _exactly_ what she wanted. "And then I want you to _mount_ me, Jaune. I want you to mount me and take that big _cock_ of yours and put it in me, as deep as you can go. I want you to _take_ me, to take me as your woman. Can you do that for me, Jaune?"

Whatever hardness Jaune may have lost during Weiss's preparation had returned with that monologue, and with interest. He stood and swiftly donned the glove, then practically threw his tiny fiancee onto the bed, making her squeal in joy. He brought the lubricant with him as he approached her.

[/]

In the next room over, Blake, having relocated with Yang, tried to listen to her estranged partner. Truly, she did. However, her enhanced hearing couldn't help but pick up an unspeakably _filthy_ little speech from her transgender teammate next door, and all she could do was cover her mouth in shock as her ears perked straight up and her cheeks burned.

"Blake? What is it?"

The cat Faunus leaned in to whisper conspiratorially to Yang. "Right. So, Weiss and Jaune."

Yang shrugged. "... What about them?" she asked, confused.

"They're, um…" Blake paused as she heard a faint moan coming from next door. "Let's just say that Weiss is having a real nice time right now."

Now it was Yang who looked shocked. "You can hear them?"

Blake could only just point helplessly at her cat ears. "I'm sure they're being discreet by human standards, but…"

"Oh, wow." Yang slumped back in her chair. "So… does it sound like it's good?"

[/]

Weiss let out another muffled moan as Jaune worked a second finger into her, spreading her open and then pushing more of the oil around and into her anus. She lay facedown on the bed, her left knee raised to her chest, granting him access to her. He sawed his fingers in and out of her, pausing from time to time to add more oil and going slow to make it as comfortable as possible for her.

She felt him reach that hard spot within her once again, and nearly fainted when he split his fingers apart to pinch it between them. Weiss could feel her poor, exhausted penis make another valiant attempt to rise, and she slid a hand between her legs to try and ease her ache. Her body slumped as her lover slowly withdrew his fingers from her.

Jaune shivered as he smeared the oil across his throbbing dick. He burned with the need to do just what Weiss had asked him to and sheath himself inside of her. On the other hand, the orifice in question looked impossibly small, and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. He added even more oil.

"I'm going to try to… enter you now, okay?"

Weiss nodded her assent, then pushed back to rest on her hands and knees, raising her backside in the air. She shuddered in taboo delight as she realized that she was presenting to him, inviting him to tap into his masculine instinct to mount her. To take her.

To _fuck_ her.

She felt a hand on her hip as she felt him pressing against her. Weiss let out a deep breath and tried to relax herself. The pressure built, and she started to panic at his size. What had she been thinking?! There was no way that he would fit! He would split her open!

Then she felt the pressure ease, and felt him leaning over her. Jaune planted a soft, gentle kiss between her shoulder blades. "It's all right. I love you," he whispered into her ear, his breath warm and sweet on her neck. Weiss melted. What was she so worried about? This was Jaune, _her_ sweet, silly knight, and he would never hurt her. He was the only man in the world for her, the only one that she would trust to share herself with in her entirety, body and soul, and she could, if she just…

Opened...

_Up._

Ironically, by bearing down as if trying to expel him, Weiss opened herself up enough to allow his lubricated flesh to glide inside of her. Jaune practically _fell_ into her, inch after long inch disappearing inside of her, only catching after more than three-fourths of his total length had penetrated her.

Weiss let out a deep, raw moan as she felt his burning hot cock bore into her depths. The two lovers paused there, at the moment of initial penetration, as both tried to come to terms with the sensations that they were experiencing.

"A-are you okay?" Jaune asked her, his voice shaky.

"Oh gods, _Jaune,_" answered Weiss, her voice a moan, a whine, and a squeal all at once. She let her head hang down as she took a few deep breaths to collect herself. Then, she twisted her torso to look back at her lover. "I want it all," she said. "Give me everything you have!"

In answer, he put both hands on her slender waist and began to pull her further onto him. Weiss pushed back, helping him along, savoring the feeling of him sheathing himself inside of her. Finally, she felt the light tickle of his pubic hair against the cleft of her rear, and she knew that she had taken all of him. Weiss felt strangely, deliciously full, stretched open on the inside.

Then he began to pull back. Her hands clenched the bedsheets as she felt a great suction-like sensation deep inside of her, before her entire body rocked forward with his thrust. The cycle repeated, and then again, picking up speed as Jaune gained confidence. Soon, Weiss was pushing back against him as well, timing her efforts to coincide with his thrusts.

Her breasts bounced back and forth as they hung below her, inspiring Jaune to take one in hand and resume his teasing, kneading maneuvers from earlier. Weiss felt her genitals swinging wildly between her legs, but for once, she could care less, being far too preoccupied with the new sensations deep in her body to be concerned. As much as he was penetrating her, she was engulfing him, the two combined in a primal conjunction.

When Weiss thought to clench herself on the apex of his instrokes, it was effectively over. With a strangled cry, Jaune pushed into her with his most powerful stroke yet. She let herself fall prone once more, savoring the feeling of her lover _fucking_ her, fucking her right into the mattress. He intertwined with her, his left hand working under her arm to clasp onto her own hand, her right leg rising to wrap with his.

She couldn't help but cry out as he continued to thrust into her. Finally, he shoved himself as far as he could possibly go inside of her. He triggered his Semblance and exploded inside of her. Weiss felt his molten semen flow deep into her core, the warmth of it spreading until it encompassed her entire being. She opened her eyes to see that she was glowing with Aura, before Jaune deactivated his ability. His weight pressed down on her, covering her like a thick blanket as he stayed buried inside of her, both of them panting deeply for breath.

Eventually, Jaune softened and slipped from her body. Weiss felt an odd sort of longing as his cock left her feeling empty in its absence. With a groan, Jaune rolled off of her, laying flat on his back. Weiss stayed on her stomach as her heartbeat regained its regular pace, and her breathing slowly returned to normal. After a long while, she curled to her side to look at Jaune.

He gave her a weak little smile, then passed out from the exertion.

She didn't mind. He had made her feel _amazing._ Weiss felt beautiful and sexy, desired and debauched, loved and sensual. She smiled at Jaune and gave him a kiss goodnight, peering at the Arc insignia on her finger one last time before closing her eyes. Jaune had asked her to marry him. He wanted her as much as she him. He had put his ring on her hand, and his seed in her body. Jaune was her man, just as Weiss was his woman.

She couldn't have been happier.

[/][/][/][/][/]

Blake tried not to stare too much as Weiss came skipping into the kitchen the next morning. She shared a glance with Yang, who could only shrug in response.

"Good morning!" chirped Weiss, as she brought a bowl of breakfast cereal to the table. "Have you two worked out your differences yet?"

"Uh, not entirely, but it's, um, getting there!" blurted Blake, as, unknown to the former heiress, the cat Faunus had stomped on her partner's foot to keep her from blurting out something inappropriate.

What Weiss _could_ see was the dirty look that Yang sent Blake's way. "Oh, come on, Yang," she admonished. "I'm sure that if you meet her halfway, everything will be fine!" With that, she sat down to eat, missing the exchange of a ten-lien note from Yang to Blake, pertaining to a bet as to whether or not she would be able to sit at all that morning.

"So, where's Lover Boy?" Yang asked.

"Oh, he's asleep. Poor thing still needs to recover," she said.

Yang snickered, causing Blake to stare at her in horror.

"What?" asked Weiss.

Blake actually lunged to try and gag Yang, but it was to no avail. "Had a pretty exciting night, eh?"

"What do you mean by-"

"We could hear you," Blake interjected, opting to take control by confessing herself, rather than let Yang fly loose. "Or, rather, I could… at least until the end there. Then Yang could hear you two as well."

Weiss stared at them in dawning horror. "Oh my gosh," she said, burying her face in her hands.

"Woah, hang on, it's all good, Weissy!" Yang tried to console her.

The partners' feud was forgotten again as they banded together to convince Weiss not to murder them to keep her secrets.

**[/]**

**Chapter Endnotes: Bold moves from our intrepid couple this chapter. Is it too soon to become engaged? Is it too fast? Will the true love of the spirit conquer all? Will Blake have returned only to meet her demise at the hands of Weiss Schnee? Find out next time!**

**Minor PSA, but having unprotected anal sex can be dangerous, really dangerous, as microtears in the rectal tissues can make it easier to become infected by an STI. You should only do it if you are willing to stake your life on your partner being clean, because you are. Weiss and Jaune are in an ideal romance in a fantasy world; you aren't, so use a condom.**

**I hope you all enjoyed this rather steamy chapter of "Falling Snow." See you next time!**

**-Mahina **


	11. The Angel's Wings

**A/N: Welcome back to "Falling Snow," the story cracking more eggs than breakfast!**

**[/]**

_Women,_ mused Jaune Arc, _are weird_.

One would think that, having grown up with seven sisters, the young Huntsman-in-training would have come to that conclusion long ago, a lesson learned with such vigor as to engrave itself permanently into the very essence of his being. Well, no one said that he was a particularly quick learner. Still, as he hung upside-down by his knees on the training bar, that lesson finally sunk into his mind.

He had no idea what had caused the odd behavior in his friends. He'd been doing his conditioning work, now that his broken ribs had been well and truly healed. "Doctor Schnee" did _damn_ fine work, as it turned out. Ren had told him, all the way back at Beacon, that, while Aura is the Huntsman's greatest weapon and defense, a solid physical foundation will lessen the need for him to draw upon it. That, in turn, would grant him even greater stamina in battle. If he couldn't beat them, he could very well outlast them, until they dropped of exhaustion. So it was that he had gone about his morning routine, with cardiovascular workouts and plyometric exercises designed to build explosive power in his muscles. It was when he was working on his core muscles that the strangeness had begun.

Jaune's shirt, which was heavy with sweat, kept slipping down and plopping onto his face as he hung by his knees, leaning back to the full range of motion of his torso and wrenching himself up to touch his chest to his knees. With the shirt proving a hindrance, he had simply taken a moment to wriggle out of it, letting the soggy garment fall to the floor with a barely-audible squish. Having divested himself of his obstacle, Jaune had gone right back to his exercise, only to find that both Yang and Blake had stopped their own exercises and were now just kind of… staring at him.

He wasn't sure that they were staring at _him_, precisely, taking a second to make sure that no giant killer bunny Grimm or somesuch insanity was behind him, but when the two women had begun to point in his direction and giggle, he knew that he was, once more, the butt of the joke. Jaune felt a bit put out by that. Sure, he wasn't at the level of a full-blown Huntsman, but there was no need to outright _mock_ his training like that! He scowled as he started incorporating twists into the workout. Strengthening the oblique muscles would build power for twisting cuts and stabs, as the energy drew from the ground, was directed by the power of the hips, and extended through his blade. A reasonable and prudent area to strengthen, to be sure, so _why_, exactly, did the two members of Team RWBY continue to giggle in his direction?

After a moment of that treatment, a _very_ put-out Weiss stomped her way over to them. Jaune couldn't make out what the girls were saying, but it was clearly annoying his fiancee. When Yang held her hands apart, moving them closer and then further apart as if to measure something, Weiss got _really_ vexed, stamping her feet and giving them an old-fashioned, Beacon-style Weiss Schnee telling-off. Jaune smiled as he continued to push himself. A part of him had missed the white-haired girl's fits of pique. Not enough for him to deliberately annoy her to bring it out again - joining Beacon with no Aura aside, Jaune had _some_ self-preservation instincts, tragically underutilized though they may have been - but if someone else wanted to start the show? Well, that was just fine by him. Especially when it was his fiancee, his future wife, coming to his defense like that. He also appreciated the small, tight blue gym shorts she was wearing. How such a short girl had legs that went on forever was a mystery for the ages, but Jaune was perfectly willing to just kinda stare at her until he figured it out.

He grinned and put the matter from his mind, focusing on his exercise.

[/]

Weiss did her level best to let go of her irritation as both Blake and a still-giggling Yang shuffled off towards the heavy bags, the former with a semi-apologetic shrug, and the latter with a declaration that she _would_ find out one way or another. The ex-heiress flushed. Xiao Long had had the sheer, unadulterated _gall_ to ask her how big Jaune was… _downstairs_! As far as Weiss was concerned, that was classified top-secret information that only she was privy to. Why did Yang even want to know, anyway? It wasn't as if she'd ever do anything with him anyway. But Blake, now _that_ was concerning. The cat Faunus had tried to hide it, but she'd been eyeing Jaune's abs the way a… well, the way a cat looks at a mouse, really.

Was that racist? Weiss reminded herself to not be racist.

Still, Blake collected blondes the way that other people collected stamps, so Weiss had needed to politely, yet firmly remind her that that one was off-limits. Really, given that Blake was her teammate, one of her closest friends, a sister-in-arms, Weiss didn't _really_ think that the other girl would try anything, but it never hurt to be cautious.

And if she was wrong about that? Well, Weiss had already bitten one woman's ear off for getting between her and her man that week, she could easily make it two.

Wait, was _that_ racist? Weiss reminded herself again to not be racist, and resolved that, if ever there was a pressing need for her to bite off Blake's ear, she would make an effort to make it one of the human ones. There, a perfectly egalitarian solution.

She was perhaps a little more similar to Winter than she really supposed, at least when she was annoyed.

Still, Weiss couldn't tell which was worse, Yang's openly lewd questioning or Blake's earnest declarations that what she'd overheard was "beautiful" and that she was "honored to have been included in it." She wasn't _supposed _to have been included in it! And she could stand to stop talking about it, even if it was in glowing terms! Gods, Weiss wouldn't be surprised if, somehow, a thinly-veiled version of her sharing her virginity with Jaune made it into one of Blake's smutty books. The last thing she needed was someone out there writing smut about her love life.

Weiss shoved _that_ thought to the deepest, darkest recesses of her mind. Jaune had obviously seen the… well, _conversation_ didn't quite encapsulate what had just gone down in that corner of the gym, but it suited Weiss's self-image better than "tantrum" or "unmitigated bitch-fest," so a conversation it was. With slow, deep breaths, Weiss brought her temper back into something resembling "under control." She reminded herself that Yang and Blake were her friends, and that she'd even missed their weird partnered-teasing dynamics greatly when they'd been separated.

She put a reasonably-pleasant expression on her face before turning to walk over to her husband-to-be. It wasn't _Jaune's_ fault that they overheard. Well, it _could_ be argued, in a sense, that it was… Weiss felt the tips of her ears burn as she blushed, the blush even spreading down her neck as she observed her man, seeing how his muscles glistened with sweat and were flush with the effort of his workout.

"Hey, Weiss," he said, huffing with effort as he completed another crunch. "What was all that about?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," she said. Her eyes may or may not have been tracking his torso as it worked up and down. With no witnesses in the immediate vicinity, no one could prove anything.

"Well, I appreciate you sticking up for me." Jaune told her.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

He paused, hanging upside down. As she was rather short, he ended up basically at face level with her. "They were making fun of me, right? Another 'come watch dumb Jaune flail about' thing?"

"What?! No, it was - " Weiss caught herself so quickly that she nearly swallowed her own tongue. She couldn't very well tell him that two of their friends had overheard their night of passion, and were now staring at him like a slab of pure-cut man-beef! "They were… being girls."

"I have no idea what that's supposed to mean," Jaune said honestly as he resumed his exercises.

"You… you have no idea what's going on, do you." Weiss said, her expression falling flat. After everything, just a bit of the oblivious dunce of Beacon still showed through every now and then. Really, she didn't know why she should have been surprised that he would completely fail to realize what Yang and Blake had been doing.

"Can't say I do."

"You… may well get more looks and whispers from members of the female persuasion, especially as you go about… exposed in such a manner."

Jaune did a double-check to confirm that his athletic shorts were still well-secured around his hips. "But my shorts are still on?"

"You're attractive, you dunce!"

He blinked. "What?"

Weiss demurred. "Your diligence in training is… paying off with dividends in aesthetic terms, and others have begun to notice."

"And that's Weiss-speak for… ?"

"Well, you've developed strong, sleek, defined muscles and… well, some women _appreciate _that."

"Huh." Jaune paused again, giving her his easygoing smile. "That's neat and all, but I'm not training to get hot, I'm training to get strong. Besides, I don't need to attract any other women since I'm going to marry you, right? The only woman I need to worry about pleasing is you."

Weiss's smile was bright and wide. "That's _exactly_ right," she told him. "So don't let the other girls get to you. And for the record… I appreciate the results as well."

"Well, that's good to know. I guess I'll just keep it up, eh?"

"Hold still for a moment," she told him. Jaune complied, hanging down in front of her. She took his face in hand and gave him a deep, upside-down kiss. "Keep it up, my love."

"Will do!" Jaune said brightly. As Weiss turned to leave, the blonde knight paused again as a thought occurred to him. "Hey!" he called out.

"Hmm?"

"That kiss… we just re-enacted the iconic inverted kiss between Vav and Aishwarya from _X-Ray and Vav 2: Rise of the Arachno-Vav!_"

"Oh, did we? I had no idea," Weiss lied. Ruby had made her watch the insipid superhero movie with her back at Beacon, and while the film did little for her, that one scene had always struck as being just a little romantic. So when she saw her hot, sweaty shirtless fiancee upside down, well, what harm could it cause to indulge in a little fantasy? "I'm sure it's just a coincidence." She continued to head to the treadmills, where Ruby had worked up a sweat of her own dashing at the highest possible speed.

Jaune narrowed his eyes at her. "I know a secret nerd when I see one!" he called after her. He chuckled as he reached his chest to his knees, completing his set of crunches. She was _so_ busted.

[/]

"Do you mind if I sit with you?" Winter asked Qrow, who had spread out on a couch and kicked his feet up on a table. He simply grunted in answer, shifting to a side a bit to make room for her.

They sat together in silence for a long moment before the soldier spoke up again. "Are you ready to talk about it?"

He grunted again. "Nothing to talk about, Snowbird."

"Qrow, she's your sister. Your _twin_ sister."

"Ain't got no sister," he said.

"Qrow."

"Fine, fine! My twin sister ditched my best friend and her own daughter, to go reave, raid, and pillage innocent people for seventeen years, and when shit gets real, she throws her lot in with the enemy and tries to kill me. Nothin' I can do about it."

Winter narrowed her eyes at him. "That isn't what I meant by coping," she told him.

"Yeah, well, it's nothing the Ol' Burn can't fix," he said. The grizzled Huntsman began to reach down to the low table before him, where he had set down his flask, when a slender, gloved hand reached out and stopped him. He looked over to her, about to have at her, when he saw the look on her face. She was stern, sure, unyielding as ever but… there was a softness in her eyes, a genuine concern. That combination of formidable will and affectionate worry… it reminded him of someone else, someone he'd lost a long time ago.

He sighed and dropped his hand, letting himself flop back heavily onto the couch. Qrow felt a pleasant softness on his arm as she wrapped her arms around it and pulled it to her chest, resting her head against his shoulder a second later.

Ah, hell.

"You're getting soft, Ice Queen," he told her.

"I'm just lulling you into a false sense of security before our next battle," she murmured. They sat there together in silence for a long moment. "Thank you," Winter said.

Qrow took a deep breath. "I've had a long time to come to terms with who Raven is and what she does. Still, there was always a sense that me, Tai, the girls… we wouldn't cross her and we'd be off-limits. All of this… she set herself in position where she knew that she'd have to fight us. And she did. Did her level best to kill me, Rubes, even her own daughter."

"I know all about that kind of betrayal," she told him. "Family is more than just blood, you know. It's the people who care about you, who stand together with you through everything. Take your relationship with Ruby. To see the two of you together, one would never guess that you are not related by blood."

"Yeah, sure," he said. Qrow still itched for the flask, but he didn't want to set off the woman on his arm. "Still, imagine if that kid sister of yours turned on you and tried to get people to kill you, and was willing to give it a shot herself."

Winter laughed at the notion, the longest, loudest laugh that she'd allowed herself in years. It culminated in a decidedly un-ladylike snorting fit, the soldier letting go of his arm as she clutched her stomach. Qrow just watched as she tried to collect herself.

"I haven't had a laugh like that in a _long_ time," Winter admitted, wiping a tear from her eye with a single, gloved finger. "I'm sorry," she added, seeing his mystification. "I just literally _cannot_ imagine Weiss coming to kill me. It would be like being set upon by a particularly fearsome puppy. Now my brother, I can see him trying, or at least hiring someone else to make the attempt, but…"

As she spoke, Weiss and Ruby, still clad in their gym attire, burst into the room, openly fleeing. Ruby dashed forward, while Weiss ran with her arms straight ahead of her, like a child.

"Weiss, how could you!" Ruby cried.

"I have regrets!" her partner answered.

Following behind them, Yang stomped along with an exaggeratedly-robotic gait. "Robo-noogies, _robo-noogies_!" the blonde girl buzzed. Winter loudly cleared her throat, causing all of the teenage girls to come to a halt as they realized that the older adults were present for the first time.

"So, what is this about?" Winter asked.

Weiss and Ruby shared a look. "Well," Ruby began. "It all started when Yang threatened to give me a noogie. And then _Weiss_," she said, giving the white-haired girl a pointed look, "thought to ask if her prosthetic arm meant that her noogies were now _robo-noogies_!"

Winter rolled her eyes as she stood and strode over to the girls. It was strange. One moment, her little sister was as a woman grown, planning her future and making insightful observations, and the next, well, it was like Weiss was a little girl all over again. She supposed she should enjoy these moments while she still could. And really, which would she remember more fondly, all of the times she'd been an example of perfect deportment, or the grand exceptions she hadn't been?

"From my perspective there is only one plausible response for such behavior," she began. She threw a sly wink Yang's way, the surprised girl catching onto her meaning and positioning herself closer to her own little sister.

Weiss was entirely oblivious to the exchange, which is why she was caught so very flat-footed when her older sister snatched her up, an action swiftly imitated by Yang.

"It's a double older sister noogie attack!" Ruby cried. "Retreat! Retreat!"

"I've been _deceived!_" Weiss wailed, squirming as her sister carefully rubbed the top of her head with her knuckles.

"Oh, you'll be fine," Winter told her, before letting her go.

"Every woman for herself!" Weiss took off running, leaving her partner to her own older sister's ministrations.

"Noooo! Weiss, don't leave me!" wailed Ruby. Yang let her grip loosen enough for Ruby to work her way free before giving chase, all three girls laughing as they ran around the room and back out the door.

Qrow watched as Winter turned to regard him, her smile wider than he'd ever seen before. He felt his heart skip a beat at the sight. Sheesh. Girl was gonna get him in trouble, smilin' his way like that. Winter returned to the couch, sitting delicately next to him.

"All right, Trouble, what was that about?"

"Trouble?"

"You are, and you know it," he said, flashing her a quick grin.

"I daresay that you've quite the affinity for such trouble, Qrow Branwen."

"Keeps me on my toes, that's for sure."

She peered at him for a moment. "You're a good man. You do know that, don't you?"

"Pfft. Hardly." He felt her embrace his arm again, returning to rest her head on his shoulder.

"Yes, you are. And don't you dare object, or I'll fight you."

Qrow chuckled. "You're always up for a scrap, aren't you?"

"My sister and I share many similarities, but we _are _different as well," she told him. "She fights to achieve her goals. For me, the fight _is_ the goal. I'm a born soldier, Qrow. I never feel more alive than when I have a good fight before me."

He cocked his head at her. "Never - ?"

The soldier flushed. "Or maybe there's more than _one_ kind of fight to win."

"Is that right?"

She stood, stretching out sensuously. "If you think you're up to the challenge, we can always abscond to the training room." Winter made to leave, stopping by the door and throwing him a wicked wink over her soldier.

Qrow was up and at her side in a flash. He'd forgotten his flask on the low table.

[/]

They gathered around the living room that afternoon. Oscar stood, the small farmboy shimmering with an emerald Aura as the immortal wizard "took the wheel" so to speak. "So, how are you all recuperating from the fight the other night?"

"Ribs are good," Jaune reported. "And my armor is repaired."

"Spirits are high and love is in the air!" Ruby cheered. Within the depths of his own mind, Oscar really, _really_ wanted to inquire further onto that line of inquiry, before the wizard broke the news to him.

_You do realize that I, her unimaginably older professor and mentor, am 'along for the ride' so to speak, don't you? It would be highly inappropriate for a teacher to engage in such relations with a student._

_But _I'm _not an immortal wizard! It's not inappropriate for me!_

_Still, the point remains. If it's any consolation, the odds that Miss Rose would be receptive to such advances are remote at best, in any event._

_Wow. I'm a teenage boy surrounded by stunningly gorgeous girls, all of whom are off-limits. It really sucks to be us, huh?_

_It really does. It will get better as you age, I promise._

"Miss Xiao Long, how are you and Miss Belladonna reconnecting?" Ozpin asked, stowing the mental dialogue to the background.

"Well, it's been… awkward," Blake began.

"We fought. Like, _a lot_." added Yang. "We cleared most of the air, but… it might take some time before we're back to where we were before."

Winter cleared her throat. "Incidentally, the Specialist supply requisition that I sent away for has arrived at the local Atlas embassy. I would prefer having someone accompany me to help carry the equipment back here."

"Heeeeey, I have an idea!" chirped Nora. "Why don't we have a girl's night? We go out, see more of the city, and pick up the stuff on the way home?"

"A… girl's night?" Winter seemed mystified.

"Sure!" Nora was undeterred. "It'll be you, me, Team RWBY, and an entire city worth of trouble! C'mon, Auntie Winter!"

"Auntie Winter?!"

"Well, yeah!"

The mystified look on Winter's face only deepened. "I could see how Ruby Rose might have come to that conclusion - wrong though it may be - but why would _you_ wish to address me as such?"

"Ugh, do I have to draw a chart?" Nora stood and bodily hefted both Jaune and Weiss in front of her, the latter squawking in indignation, while the former was rapidly approaching a Ren-like level of calm in dealing with Nora's shenanigans. Speaking of which, she then retrieved her erstwhile boyfriend, who was entirely unphased at being slung about like a sack of potatoes.

"Okay, here's the deal. She," she said, pointing to Weiss, "Is your little sister, correct?"

"...Yes, that's correct. But -"

"And she is getting hitched to _him_," Nora continued, moving her finger to point to Jaune, who just gave a bland little wave.

"I fail to see how this involves you?"

Nora gave an exaggerated, put-upon sigh. "That's because Jaune and Ren are brothers!"

Winter raised an eyebrow. The two young men didn't share a surname, and they looked wildly different from one another, but then, the same could be said of Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long, after all.

"Is this true?" she asked.

"Yuh-huh," Jaune nodded sagely.

"Sure thing," muttered Ren, just going along with it.

"So, your sister is gonna marry Ren's brother, and Ren and I are practically family, so that makes you family too!" Nora finished with a grand flourish.

Winter raised a finger, before Qrow spoke up. "Hey, you're the one who said that there's more to family than blood," he told her, with a positively shit-eating smirk.

"Unless, there's something wrong with being family with me and Ren?" Nora asked, with just a hint of lip wobble.

Winter stared at the girl. She knew a threat when she heard one. She held her gaze with the girl for a long moment, before finally throwing her arms in the air. "Fine, fine, address me as you will," she surrendered.

"Yaay!" Nora jumped through the air towards Winter, who, out of startled reflex, took a smooth step back, letting the orphan girl flop unceremoniously onto the ground. "Ow…."

"What was that?" Winter asked the girl.

"I was trying to give you a hug!" Nora wailed.

"Oh. I thought you were trying to attack me."

"_Why_ would I be trying to attack you?"

"Why would you be trying to hug me?"

Nora sat up. "Wow, you and Weiss had it rough, huh?"

"Why don't you give it more time?" Ren suggested as he knelt down to help Nora back to her feet. "Not everyone is ready for the full 'Nora experience' all at once."

"Oh, okay. Well, having the girl's night will help, won't it?"

Ren shared a look with Jaune, who couldn't bring himself to deny his friend a little respite from a Nora going stir-crazy cooped up in a house.

"Well, if Specialist Schnee is going as a chaperone, I'm sure that you can keep out of trouble," Ozpin interjected diplomatically.

"So, it's decided," Weiss said. "I'm sure that my sister would _love_ to become better acquainted with you all."

Winter shot her a look, the two sisters engaging in a silent dialogue through their expressions.

_Sister, why? How could you?_

_Remember the surprise older sister noogies?_

_Well-played._

Winter turned to her sister's fiancee. "Note the swiftness and severity with which my dear sister exacts her retribution. Note it well, Jaune Arc, as you will face such wrath should you ever displease your wife-to-be."

"Point duly taken," Jaune replied.

The meeting adjourned, and the women went about readying themselves for a night out. Nora shared a glance with her co-conspirator, Ruby Rose. The Schnee sisters were pivotal connection pieces to their grand scheme. For as long as she could remember, Nora had only ever had Ren as her family. Then came Jauney and Pyrrha and Weiss, and now the rest of them were going to be included as well. She was going to have lots and lots of family! She didn't know how they were going to work Flakey Blakey into their plot, but Ruby had promised her that she had that covered, somehow.

Nora loved it when a plan came together.

[/]

Jaune leaned against a corner in the room he shared with Weiss, watching with some confusion as she went about applying makeup. Considering the revelations that Ozpin had had for them, it occurred to the young knight that literal sorcery was more comprehensible to him than whatever arcane rituals Weiss was doing in front of the mirror. Eventually, she turned to look at him.

"Well? What do you think?"

Jaune scratched his head. "You look… exactly the same?"

"Ah, perfect," she said, turning back around and extending lipstick, carefully applying it.

"...What? Why go through all of that if you can't see the difference?"

Weiss smacked her lips, the coral pink a subtle, but flirty shade that complemented her fair skin tone. "It's all about making differences without letting them _know_ that you're making differences," she told him.

"That makes less than no sense."

"Oh please. Did you think this eyeliner feathers itself?"

"... Yes?"

Weiss just sighed and began applying the lip gloss, giving them a slightly shiny, glistening shimmer. She turned as she heard a knock on the door. "Come in."

Her older sister opened the door. "Hello, sister… Jaune," she said, giving a nod in his direction. Winter held her hands clasped behind her back. "I brought you something, something that I retrieved from the manor."

"Hmm? What is it?" Weiss was puzzled. What had she left behind? Her personal Dust supply went up with bombs and flames, the only clothing left there had been male-coded…

Winter held her hands out in front of her, opening them up to reveal Weiss's tiara. Having picked it up from the floor of Weiss's old room, Winter had had it cleaned of blood and soot and remade to its old shape.

"I... " Weiss began. Her tiara, passed down from her mother, to her sister, and to herself, was an item that she'd never thought to see again, let alone in its current, reshaped state. There were so memories caught up in that piece, some good, and some… less so.

"Here, let me put it on for you," Winter offered, standing behind her little sister and working her hair through the tiara. Tears glistened in Weiss's eyes as her older sister put her tiara on, just like she'd done when she first gifted it to her years ago. She worried that her hair wouldn't be long enough, but Winter was able to fit the headpiece through the hair on the back of her head, forming a short tail.

"There," Winter said, stepping back as Weiss admired herself in the mirror. "As pretty as a princess."

Weiss turned around and gave her sister a fierce hug. "Oh, Winter, thank you so much!" She released her and then turned to her fiancee. Her smile was bright and wide. "Jaune, how do I look?"

"Like an angel," he answered honestly.

[/]

All told, "Girl's night," was not the abject torture that Winter had figured it would be. Weiss had practically basked in the compliments that the other girls had made about her returned tiara. If one were to put Winter on the rack and attempt to torture the truth from her, she might, maybe, have admitted that Rose, Xiao Long, and even Valkyrie were fine company, if in small doses. The Faunus girl, Belladonna, was more an unknown quantity. She would have been more suspicious of the raven-haired young woman, but for two factors; the first was that Weiss vouched for her, saying that she trusted the former White Fang operative with her life. The second was that, without the Faunus militia that the Belladonnas had brought to Haven Academy, all of them would have been killed when the White Fang detonated the explosives that they'd set.

Winter didn't know if it had truly sunken in to her little sister that she had nearly died twice over that night, and she didn't want to bring it up for fear of kicking off a traumatic episode. So, instead, the soldier opted to simply demonstrate her gratitude to the Belladonna girl by extending to her the same informal… okay, _less formal_ treatment that she offered to the rest of her sister's friends. Fortunately, and with some irony, the cat Faunus Blake was the easiest for Winter to get along with, being quiet, polite, and only speaking up when she had something important to say. As she sipped her tea, surrounded by chattering young women who insisted on trying to get to know her better, Winter could appreciate the virtues of a quiet girl.

The women sat at a large banquet table, the largest available at the outdoors cafe they'd settled on for dinner. It had taken a … distressingly long time to find a restaurant outside of the Faunus district that didn't bear a sign notifying customers that the partially-bestial race was unwelcome. It was one thing to understand anti-Faunus discrimination in the abstract sense, and quite another to see its reality. Blake had apologized and even tried to go back to the house once, but all of the other women, Winter included, had had none of it. Nora had even threatened to tie her up in her own ribbon and haul her on her shoulder like a barrel if she tried to flee from them.

Still, they'd eventually prevailed, and had taken to eating with all of the gusto of a small flock of teenage girls and a soldier. Their hunger satiated, they'd taken to discussing what they wished to do before carrying out their errand at the embassy. Winter just watched, quietly pleased at how well integrated her sister was into this tight-knit group. Weiss had never looked happier to her than she'd been as her team reunited and she'd taken steps to solidify her plans for her future. Her little sister now smiled as a more of default, instead of the carefully-placed mask concealing a sad little frown.

She took a moment to take in the sight of her sister so happy, with her wide smile, hands moving animatedly, a red dot on her chest, the glint of her tiara -

"Get down!"

Winter _lunged_ at her sister, knocking her out of her chair and to the ground as a sniper shot rang through the air. Screams rang out as the patrons began to panic, none more so than an unfortunate waitress who had taken a nasty gut shot in Weiss's place. The soldier crouched over her sister.

"Rose, can you see them?"

Ruby knelt in a three-point stance, her scythe extended as she watched through the scope. "Nope, they've gone."

Blake's cat ears twitched. "We've got company incoming!"

"Bring it!" Yang's bracelet extended, and a gun barrel opened emerged from the specialized compartment in her prosthetic arm.

"Negative," Winter countermanded. "We need to relocate, minimize civilian casualties. Destination is the Atlas embassy. Let's move!"

They took off down the street, with Blake and Ruby making powerful leaps to run the rooftops ahead of the group, providing an overwatch. The main group skidded to a halt as they came face to face with a quartet of armed people, three men and a woman. They stood with the easy manner of those accustomed to violence.

One of the men, heavily muscled with scars running up his bare arms and casually spinning a massive handgun, stood forward. "Howdy," he said affably. "Congrats on dodging Calamity's shot. Y'all earned me fifty lien with that one. Now, we don't need to make this unpleasant like. Boss man's only paid to deal with the little tranny girl, so ain't no need for the rest of y'all to get splattered. So why don't ya -"

Whatever he was going to say was lost as Blake, swinging on her ribbon in her best Arachno-Vav impression, smashed both of her feet into the side of the man's head at speed, sending him flying through the air.

"Yeah, but then that happened," quipped Yang, as the other bounty hunters deployed their weapons.

"Keep it tight, pick your shots," Winter ordered. "Hold them off while I find their sniper." She almost ordered Jaune to keep his guard over Weiss, before remembering that he wasn't there. Upon further consideration, having a young man, with a heavy shield and a healing Semblance, be utterly devoted to her sister and following her around like a puppy was not the worst state of affairs.

The girls surged forward. Winter frowned as she observed how they all seemed to be laser-focused on her little sister. A man with a halberd brought the heavy blade crashing down towards her head before shifting into a thrust with the spear tip, while the woman used a whip-sword of flexible steel that sang as it warped through the air towards her leg, _and_ the other man attacked Weiss with what appeared to be a Dust-powered carpentry hammer. Weiss hopped to avoid the urumi attack, twisting midair to avoid the spear point, and landing on a glyph to dash backwards away from the hammer. As Weiss retreated, her attackers barely responded to her friends' own counterattacks, resuming their press against the young Schnee woman.

Clearly, they had opted to try and kill Weiss first, and then retreat afterwards.

Winter forced herself to focus, scanning the skyline with the practiced eye of an adept Specialist. She was distantly aware that the first man, the one that Blake had clobbered, had returned to the fight, and had caught on to what Winter had intended. Winter ignored him to continue her countersniping operation, a decision that was justified when the man went flying once more, this time from a shot to the back from her own sniper. Ruby dashed to press the attack, manifesting in a burst of rose petals as she swung her scythe at the man.

Finally, Winter spotted her quarry, given away by the tell-tale glint of a scope. She spun her saber, focusing her Semblance, and summoned her swarm of icey Nevermores, sending them shrieking towards the sniper's perch. A few moments after they reached the unseen shooter, Winter boosted their size and directed her constructs to fetch them to her.

A few seconds later, the ice constructs carried a cursing, thrashing woman in the midst of their swarm and dropped her to the ground from a couple dozen feet in the air. The gunwoman scowled, unleashing a _blistering_ torrent of creative obscenity as she rose shakily to her feet. She wore a long brown leather duster like Yang's, and a brown, wide-brimmed hat with the brim curled on each end. She was armed with an objectively obnoxious amount of firearms, a handgun on each hip, what looked like mechashifted submachine guns strapped to her thighs, a pair of sawed-off shotguns peering over each shoulder, a bandolier of pistols across her chest, _more_ pistols on the small of her back, and a heavy, scoped lever-action rifle with a laser sight in her arms.

"The fuck?!" was her way of greeting the soldier.

"Calamity, I presume? I have objections to your current contract, and would like to make a counteroffer."

"Yeah, contract's a contract," the vulgar woman shrugged. "Word's gotta count for something." She spat on the ground, sheathed her rifle down the center of her back, and drew the twin heavy pistols from her hips. "Shit, can you 'magine if folks just started breakin' contracts willy-nilly? Fuckin' anarchy, I'm telling you."

Winter's mouth drew into a grim line. "If I cannot dissuade you from your course, then I'm afraid you will not be leaving this place alive."

Calamity laughed. "Well damn, Ice Bitch, you know how to make a gal feel downright _special_." With that, she opened fire on the soldier, who juked from side to side as she closed the ground. As she got into range, Winter feinted a head-high slash, before stabbing down at the centerline. Calamity twisted to one side, and activated her Semblance, aligning the muzzle of her left-handed pistol to the forte of Winter's saber and pulling the trigger. Winter's saber went spinning into the distance.

The bounty hunter leapt back, only to be overtaken by the soldier. Calamity had clearly been expecting her counterpart to retreat to her weapon, but Winter knew that that would be the expected course of action, and opted to do the exact opposite. Calamity leveled one of her pistols at Winter, but the soldier bent over backwards, swiftly bypassing the gun's muzzle. Winter extended her thumb, forefinger and middle finger and jabbed them sharply into the nerve cluster under the arm, one of the signature techniques of the White Crane Immortal style of unarmed fighting.

Calamity swore as she dropped one of her pistols from suddenly numb fingers. She held her other hand back, away from Winter, firing from the hip. For her part, Winter pivoted to one side, then folded into an extremely low crouch and driving her Crane Beak hand into the other woman's abdomen, forcing the air from her lungs by painfully compressing her diaphragm, then springing from the crouch to rocket her sharp heel directly into the underside of her target's jaw.

A Semblance was the only explanation for how her enemy managed to draw one of the shotguns she carried and aim it directly at her midsection while staggering back with her head rocked back. At that range, the shotgun would do unfortunate things to her, Aura or no Aura, so Winter leapt back in the Wild Falcon Pose, the rapidly increasing distance mitigating the damage of the roaring shotgun blast from "turn Winter to a bloody slush" to a mere "stunning blow to the gut."

The two women eyed each other warily as they circled. Winter came to her saber, kicking it into her hand and pulling a smooth flourish to counter the opportunistic pistol shots sent her way. She scowled as she deflected a continuous stream of projectiles. Calamity was _juggling_ her firearms, a pistol and both submachine guns, in order to keep up a constant rate of fire. The two were in a stalemate; Winter couldn't drop her defense to press the attack without taking a debilitating amount of damage, and Calamity couldn't let up her assault without Winter closing the distance and cutting her to ribbons. Their fight became a race to see which would happen first, Calamity running out of ammunition or Winter making a mistake and getting shot.

"FORE!"

Calamity had just enough time to turn her head before Nora blasted her with a mighty, overhanded swing of her hammer, slamming into her head and sending the bounty hunter crumpling to the ground. The orange-haired girl sent Winter a jaunty wave. "I've got your back Aunty Winter!"

Winter decided that she'd allow it.

With the enemy's deadliest combatant taken care of, Winter took stock of the situation. The woman with the urumi sword had fled, with her two compatriots slumped on the ground, tied back-to-back on the ground.

"Status report: any injuries?"

The girls reported that they were all well and fine, but Winter still took a moment to check Weiss over. The younger woman clicked her tongue in embarrassment. "I said I'm fine, Winter."

"They were all focused on you," Winter rebuked. "You could have taken a gunshot without realizing it in the fight. Even a small needle could be coated with a potent poison."

Nora dragged the unconscious Calamity over and plopped her heavily in front of the others.

"So…" Blake rubbed her shoulders, disturbed by how _not_ disturbed the others all were by a team of hunters targeting Weiss. "Why are people trying to get Weiss?"

The girl in question sighed. "That's… a long story."

"Weiss's dad is trying to kill her," Ruby said.

"...Okay, so it's a short story."

They all turned as they heard the sound of police sirens arriving. Winter sighed as she saw that _all_ of the girls, even Weiss, had the first instinct to flee. "You _do_ realize that none of us have done anything wrong, correct?"

"Since when has that ever had anything to do with it?" Blake asked.

"Very well, allow me to rephrase that. You _do_ realize that you've been accompanied by a certified Specialist in good standing, which can expedite legal processes, correct?"

The girls all shared a look. For all of them, the logical next step following a fight was to flee, to avoid the law, or the SDC forces, or, most terrifying of all, Glynda Goodwitch. Not having to deal with that sort of thing promised to be a novel experience, if nothing else.

[/]

Jaune tried not to fret.

He failed.

"Where are they?" he asked rhetorically, his feet threatening to wear a trench into the wooden floor.

"Jaune. They're all formidable women, and are under the watchful eye of an Atlas Specialist. I wouldn't worry about what might happen _to_ them, and what they might do to the city," Ren said, his feet kicked up on the arm of the couch.

"It's after midnight already. What could they possibly be doing out this late?" insisted Jaune.

"Clubbing?"

Despite his worry, Jaune chuckled. "Could you imagine either of the Schnee sisters going to a club?"

"... No," Ren eventually admitted.

"So, what is it?"

There was a pause.

"I'm going to call them," Jaune said, pulling out his Scroll, his patience spent.

As Ren debated using his Semblance on his brother, the door kicked open as Nora skipped in, carrying a massive trunk. "Hiiiiii boys!" she sang. "We brought back goodies!"

Jaune visibly slumped with relief as the other women soon filed in behind her. "So, what did you guys get up to?"

"Oh, some people tried to get Weiss!"

"_What?!"_

Weiss quickly moved to reassure him. "Having had his in-house mercenaries decimated, my father apparently tried to contract outside muscle. Their attempt fell short, obviously."

"They'll need to do better than that!" Ruby cried.

"Jaune, I'm _fine_," Weiss said, seeing the worry on her fiancee's face build. "I had my friends and my sister with me, and most of the hunters were mediocre fighters at best."

He did his level best to let go of his concern. As Ren had said, all of them, Weiss very definitely included, were formidable Huntresses, far more formidable than he was himself. "Yeah… yeah, I guess you're right."

"Of course I am. You know better than to question that, Jaune Arc." She reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, gently squeezing it to release the tension.

"With that being said, having a certain young man with a broad shield and a healing Semblance near my sister would not be remiss," Winter added, carrying a wrapped bundle. "To that end, I have some gifts for you. Spoils, if you will. Arm yourself."

Winter put down the bundle, opening it to reveal a lever-action rifle, a bevy of heavy pistols, shotguns, and submachine guns.

"Guns?"

"Yes. Guns," snarked Winter. "I was going to bring this up to you at some point, but then one of our assailants generously donated her weapons by dint of attacking us. Some of these will need to be scrapped for parts to repair our existing equipment, but since you lack any ranged options whatsoever, I thought you should get first pick."

Jaune scratched his head, slightly baffled by the assortment of firearms. "Where… where do I even start?"

The three of them looked over to the high-pitched squealing of one Ruby Rose, who darted back over to the pile of guns with huge shining eyes. "Are those Predator Heavy Pistols? Look at the bore on that rifle! I call dibs on the scope. Dibs! Okay, so here's what we can do to make something awesome for you, Vomit Boy…"

Weiss stood back, watching fondly as her best friend consulted with her baffled-looking fiancee over the array of firearms. She looked up to her sister, who distantly watched the other young hunters distributing the Dust, ammunition, and explosives from her Specialist resupply. Weiss nudged Winter in the ribs.

"Hmm, what is it?" Winter asked her.

"Giving gifts of guns and Dust to all the good little boys and girls, sister? Following in Grandfather's footsteps?"

"Hmmph," Winter scoffed. "Any officer worth their salt knows to keep their troops well-supplied. Facilitating their success empowers _my_ success as well."

"Uh-huh. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were becoming fond of these people," Weiss teased.

"Hardly."

Nora bounded up to them with an arm full of pink grenades. "You even got the color right! You're the best! Thank you!" she sang.

"I'm sure that the custom pink color was the standard for all auxiliaries working alongside a Specialist," deadpanned Weiss.

"You're going to be unbearably smug about this, aren't you?" Winter asked.

"Mmhmm."

[/]

With the resupply in hand and the realization that others may attempt to target Weiss, the team swiftly repaired and optimized their equipment. Crescent Rose had a brand new scope lens to replace the one that had cracked on the way to Mistral. Ren had cannibalized the submachine guns to repair his own. Oscar had taken one of the sawed-off shotguns, while the other rested in its new home on Winter's leg, in a custom swiveling holster. Ruby had sawed-down the rifle, since it lacked the scope, turning it into a quickly-deploying mid-range carbine, giving Jaune some ranged capability. Finally, Ruby had done some custom work on the twin pistols, engraving Arc and Schnee motifs onto the barrels and chambers, then presenting them to Jaune and Weiss. Weiss had never been overly fond of firearms, preferring to rely on her fencing abilities, Dust and Semblance, but Winter had told her that versatility was an important attribute for a Huntress, and that having an option that didn't use her Aura at all might help mitigate some of her fragility and stamina issues.

They were packed up and ready to move on within a day. But for one of their members, there were some goodbyes to be made.

Outside of the airship terminal, Weiss stood with Ruby and Yang as Blake met with the friends and family that had accompanied her from Menagerie. "It must be sad to leave so many people behind," Ruby commented as Blake hugged her parents.

"Well, they've got their own missions to undertake, I suppose," Weiss said, as Blake moved on to speak to Illia and Sun.

"Yeah," agreed Yang, stretching. "I mean, it's like with Dad, or when we were all apart. As long as you keep those people in your heart, they're never really gone, right?"

"That's… surprisingly sentimental for you, Yang," commented Weiss.

"Hey, I'm downright warm and cuddly, you know."

Yang's warm smile fell as they watched Blake lean forward and kiss Sun on the cheek. Weiss and Ruby shared a concerned look, while their cat Faunus friend gave a final farewell wave to her parents and her friends. "Hey guys," she said. "I'm ready to go now."

"... Yeah," Yang said, her tone glum.

"What's wrong?" asked Blake.

"Oh, it's nothing. Nothing to worry about at all."

Weiss cringed as the awkwardness between the two partners threatened to arise once more. She knew more than anyone other than Yang itself just how deep the blonde's feelings ran for her partner, but what would it mean for their partnership if Blake didn't return them?

She gave Yang a brief nod, as the blonde woman straightened her back and held her head upright. Whatever else they might be to one another, every single member of Team RWBY was a Huntress, and they would see the mission through.

[/]

Aboard the _Stardust_, the team took their seats in the cockpit while Winter and Qrow went through the pre-flight checklist. Upon learning that the Schnee patriarch hadn't given up on trying to take out Weiss, Qrow had insisted on spending the time the others used on equipment upkeep on inspecting the _Stardust_ for sabotage. Winter had approved, and the two had spent hours going over the airship with a fine-toothed comb. Qrow had only relented on allowing his nieces onboard once he was positive that no one had left any explosive surprises for them.

The engines whined as they began to heat up. Winter stood up to address the teenagers. "Okay, people, we'll be in the air in five. Keep your hands off of any controls unless I tell you otherwise. Beyond that, our next stop is the city of Atlas. We should arrive within a day, maybe a day and a half. Do try not to destroy my lavatory while we're in flight, or else this will become a very long and very pungent flight. Oh, and keep the teenage antics to a dull roar, or I'll throw you out at thirty-thousand feet."

The silence that greeted her was only broken by an awkward cough from Weiss.

"... That was a joke," Winter finally added, to a weak attempt at laughter from her sister. "...Let's just be underway."

Weiss watched the city of Mistral grow smaller as the _Stardust_ leapt into the sky. The city would always have an important part in her heart. The city was nearly her grave, and instead, it had become her new beginning. The Weiss who was leaving Mistral was very different from the one who had entered it weak and harried from her ordeal. There was a great deal out there that Weiss still needed to see and do, and the changes she had undergone in Mistral had set her on fire for them all.

She smiled as Jaune took her hand, his presence warm and comforting as it always had been.

The flight was relatively uneventful, until they reached the Argus mountain range. The _Stardust's _proximity alarms went off, a blaring sound pealing through the cockpit. "Incoming hostiles," Winter called out, her eyes scanning the radar readout.

"Airborne Grimm," Qrow reported, looking out the forward viewport. "Manticores, a _lot_ of them."

The Atlas mechs aboard the ship took positions at consoles, apparently gunnery stations, as the _Stardust _opened fire with heavy machine gun turrets. The swarm spread around the airship, flying across it in all directions.

""There are open ports aft, port, and starboard. Get to them and put those new guns to good use," Winter ordered.

The young hunters unstrapped themselves and made to fend off the attacking Grimm. Ren's machine pistols rattled, while large pink explosions began to bloom among the swarm. On the other side, Blake made careful shots, counting on accurate placement at weak points to compensate for the relatively weak power of Gambol Shroud's pistol, while Yang punched back and forth, sending out burning flares to strike out.

The rear cargo hold opened up, providing enough room for Weiss to execute the elaborate dances that she needed to summon Glyphs and then charge them with ice Dust. Beside her, Ruby knelt with Crescent Rose in its rifle form. Her powerful shots shattered the wings that Weiss froze, sending the mutilated Grimm plummeting to the ground far below. To Weiss's other side, Jaune focused on shooting at what targets slipped through Weiss and Ruby's teamwork. He wasn't the greatest shot in the world, but the laser sight helped a great deal, and his new rifle packed enough punch to at least stagger a Manticore, keeping the Grimm at bay.

In the cockpit, Qrow watched in concern as he saw a large Sphynx fly past, clearly the driving force of the lesser Grimm. "That one's a problem,' he pointed out.

Winter's lips peeled back in a snarl. "That's our priority target," she said. The soldier pulled the airship into a steep dive, giving the aft cargo team some great opportunity shots towards the underbellies of the Grimm. She pulled out of the dive, banking hard to avoid a cluster of falling, wingless Manticores.

"Keep it up," Qrow said, as he unstrapped himself from the co-pilot's chair. "I'm going to go take a walk."

"Wait, what?" Winter spared a second to look over her shoulder in alarm.

"Just gettin' a bird's eye view," he told her with a wink.

Weiss glanced to her right as she saw Qrow striding towards the open cargo ramp. "You see that Sphynx?" he asked.

"Yeah, can you get a hold of it?" Jaune inquired, to Qrow's surprise.

"You catch on quick, kid."

"That's kind of insane," pointed out Weiss.

"Yep." The grizzled Huntsman took a long draw from his flask. "Just keep an eye out, would you?"

With that, Qrow was off, running towards the open hatch. He leapt into the air and transformed into his bird form. He darted above a Manticore and transformed back, using the force of gravity to help him drive his scythe through the creature, cutting it clean in half. Qrow transformed once more, picking out his next target.

Since Qrow was doing his task better than he could, Jaune opted to use his Semblance to top up Weiss's Aura, as it drained from her repeated, powerful uses of her Glyphs and Dust. After a few moments, the hunters watched as Qrow emerged riding atop the Sphynx, with the tip of his scythe embedded into the Grimm's back, wrenching the creature's torso back to present a clear shot.

That shot did not go to waste. All three opened fire with everything they had, Weiss freezing the wings, and Ruby and Jaune dumping rounds into their foe. The Grimm shrieked in agony, bucking powerfully and throwing Qrow off. He turned to a bird once more, catching an updraft to fly up and away from the Sphynx as it fell. Weiss frowned as she focused on her Glyphs, alternating time dilation forward and back, causing the temporal distortion to shatter the wings entirely.

Jaune looked back to her, grinning wildly. "Awesome work, Weiss! I bet it -"

His words were cut off when a massive stinger punctured the hull near his feet. They had just enough time to look out and see a Queen Lancer before the insectoid Grimm wrenched its stinger back, taking a large chunk of the hull with it. Jaune fell away with a cry as the ground was torn out from under him.

Before she had even processed what had just happened, Weiss threw herself out after him.

[/]

_Well, shit_, thought Jaune as he plummeted towards the ground.

He'd never really considered just how high up Atlesian airships really flew until he'd been thrown from one. He was afraid, of course, terrified really, but as he fell, the emotion that took precedence, even over his mortal terror, was bitter regret. It was just his luck, really. Weiss had finally convinced him that he could dare to dream of more from life than a delayed suicide march, and as soon as he'd begun planning his future with her in earnest, well...

At this height, triggering his Semblance would just mean that his dead body would be in one piece, more or less, instead of strewn across the mountain range in bloody chunks. Still, while he couldn't keep his promise to come back to her and become her husband after this journey, he could still keep his promise to try. Sometimes, that's the only choice a man has left to him.

If nothing else, his final view would be fantastic, the high, snowcapped peaks of the Argus mountain range, with its dramatic jagged cliffs and black Schnee glyphs.

Wait.

As he passed through the glyph, his descent slowed. Not by enough, not nearly enough, but it was a start. More important even than that, however, was what that glyph signified. Wrenching his body around, Jaune turned himself to look back.

"Snow Angel," he'd called her, a cheesy pickup line turned into a running joke between the two of them. Yet as he saw her falling towards him, her face drawn in concentration, he'd never thought the title more apt. From behind her, white feathered wings sprouted and spread to their full span, completing the divine image.

Jaune opted not to turn back around. If he died, at least his last vision would be one of heartstopping beauty.

The instant passed, and Weiss backflipped midair, to land gracefully on the back of her Nevermore summon. The avian construct tucked in its wings in a full dive, dashing past Jaune. The knight landed on its back with a heavy thud, driving the air from him and threatening to send him teetering off the side before a pair of small, strong arms wrapped around him and held him tight.

"I have you," Weiss said to him. "I have you."

Jaune didn't have the words. His job was to smack things with his sword and occasionally think of ideas that were just stupid enough to work. He wasn't a poet, didn't have the mastery of words to even begin to describe just how he saw her.

"My hero," he said softly to her. Just a mere fraction of what he'd seen in her as he fell, but it would have to do.

Weiss looked up to see the _Stardust_ streaming smoke as Lancers overwhelmed it. She could see the explosions, bullets and flares that showed that her friends were keeping up the fight, but the airship itself was going down. Winter must have reached the same conclusion, as black Schnee glyphs began to slow what would have otherwise been an uncontrolled dive.

And then there was no more room for observing the others, as the Queen Lancer blasted the ice Nevermore out from under them.

She screamed as they plummeted to the ground. Their flight on the Nevermore had brought them closer to the ground, but it was still a fatal distance. Weiss felt Jaune wrap his arms around her tightly, positioning himself behind her. "Don't worry," he told her. "I have you." His Aura filled her, its warmth and soothing presence keeping her absolute terror at bay.

They hit the ground together.

**[/]**

**Chapter Endnotes: Yes, I know, I'm positively wicked. Have a nice cliffhanger until I can get the next update written. Muahaha! *cackles in evil***

**New cover art from DoodleCraftie. I saw the picture on Tumblr and just had to use it.**

**Lots of action in this one. But, at least they aren't in Mistral anymore! Also, lots of guns.**

**Nora and Ruby's grand conspiracy: because they're both adorable and weird. Also, Winter may or may not be thawing. A little. **

**The funny thing with all of Blake's ships is determining if she reciprocates others' feelings for her.**

**Weiss isn't above being a little possessive at times, but she tries to keep it from causing problems.**

**See you all on the next chapter of "Falling Snow!"**

**\- Mahina**


	12. The Consequences

**A/N: "And then they went 'splat!' The End!" Wow, could you imagine? That'd be an awful way to end the story! Anyways, please enjoy this chapter!**

**[/]**

Winter watched dully as the _Stardust_ burned.

She stood outside of the long furrow that the crashing airship had dug into the snow and ground. The thin trickle of blood seeping down the side of her face, courtesy of a small cut to her forehead, went unheeded as she watched her most prized possession going up in a great column of smoke.

The _Stardust_ had been more than a mere conveyance. It was a symbol, an emblem of all of Winter's fondest dreams, her aspirations, and her achievements as a Specialist. It was the freedom that she had sought and strived for, the freedom that she had earned through long hours of dedicated training and study to prove that she could be entrusted with the title and privileges of an Atlesian Specialist. When she stood at her command viewport and took to the skies, Winter had reveled in feeling the weight of her duties slip away from her, the relief of even a temporary respite from her burdens leaving her almost giddy.

And now her ship was gone.

With a heavy sigh, and one last, lingering look, Winter let go of the _Stardust_. No matter how much she may have loved it and the emotions that it engendered in her, the airship was still only an object, a thing. There were real people that needed her right now, Weiss and her errant fiancee being at the top of the list. When she turned to face the motley collection of ragged Hunters, her face was once more set in the cool, composed visage of a professional soldier.

The good news was that the cadets had all escaped the doomed airship without major injury. As she watched, Xiao Long and Valkyrie worked together to free the blonde's motorcycle from the wreckage. It looked intact, which might come in handy for wheeled transport, if they could find some way to reach a road and hitch something to it, such as a cart or a trailer. Ren and Belladonna had gathered wood from the surrounding forest and had set a bonfire a reasonably safe distance from the ruins of the _Stardust_, while Rose and Pine set up rudimentary lean-to structures out of hull plates that had sheared off on impact. With the column of smoke from the airship and some form of basic shelter, the main group would stay put for the time being; if Weiss and Jaune were ambulatory, they'd see the smoke and make for the impromptu camp, and if not, Qrow, Ren and Belladonna would scout out to find them.

Winter had never left someone under her command behind before, and she sure as hell wasn't going to make her own sister the first.

They gathered together around the fire. Winter cleared her throat to get their attention. "Okay everyone, so what do we know?"

"We're somewhere in the Argus mountain range, somewhere south, likely southwest, of the city," Ren answered first.

"Jaune was thrown from the ship with the first Lancer attack, and Weiss jumped out after him," Ruby added.

Winter tried not to grind her teeth together in frustration. Of course her sister would throw caution to the wind and just go for it. What made it even worse was that, unlike at Haven Academy, the boy's plight hadn't even been his fault this time, just the sheer dumb luck that defines the battlefield. She could practically hear Weiss now, making some comment about how not everyone could have a bird for a boyfriend, so she was obligated to leap out of an airship after him.

"That makes their location most likely somewhere to the southeast," Blake said quietly. "Assuming she didn't summon her Nevermore and is seconds away from rejoining us."

They paused, as if Blake voicing such a possibility might make it so. After it was apparent that Weiss and Jaune wouldn't be swooping in at the most dramatically-possible time, Winter spoke up. "It appears that we were successful in driving off the attacking Grimm, but we still don't know where that Queen Lancer went off to. We can only assume that continued to attack and harry our two missing comrades."

"I'm sure that the two of them together can take it down," offered Ruby.

"It's within the realm of possibility, but they may be delayed by injury or exhaustion by such a battle. As such, locating them is our top pri-"

"What I don't get," interrupted Qrow, to Winter's irritation," is why we hit such a big damn horde of Grimm in the first place. Manticores. Lancers, their Queen, and a damn Sphynx to boot. All of 'em, just out in the skies for no reason? Something isn't right here."

"Could our enemy be tracking us somehow?" Winter pondered, her annoyance at Qrow's interjection being subsumed by her curiosity as to the capabilities of their foe.

"Actually," Ozpin spoke up. "The truth is, the Relic... it attracts Grimm."

The entire group once more fell into utter silence, before everyone spoke at once. Every possible permutation of "what do you mean it summons Grimm" filled the air in simultaneous interrogatives, and at varying levels of volume.

Winter's mouth hardened into a tight line. It was a grim necessity of war that, sometimes, commanders needed to send their troops into harm's way without the full context. After all, the way troopers act might betray a deception of which they were expected to sell to the enemy, and all warfare is based on deception. With that being said, it was difficult to see the value of Ozpin deliberately lying to his most loyal lieutenant, two members of said lieutenant's family, and literally the only allies he currently had on hand, all while he was at his most vulnerable state. Even if there were some tactical or strategic value in the deception that Winter just couldn't perceive, she found it even more bewildering that he would come clean about the Relic's attributes _now_. Most of the teenagers were near-mutinous, there was no _near_ about it with Xiao Long, and Qrow…

Winter would have said that he looked like he'd been slapped, but having slapped, smacked, and outright clobbered the man more than her fair share of times, she had always seen him shrug it off with a puckish grin and a playful glint in his eye before responding in kind. Wherever Winter ramped it up, Qrow was right there with her. It was one of the things that she lov - _grudgingly found appealing _about him. But in that moment, where his faith in his mentor and master first began to waver?

He looked like he'd had his heart torn out. This was bad. This was very, very bad. They were all arguing now, and even the boy Oscar was struggling with the ancient wizard inside his head. Team cohesion was shot, and with Qrow's morale plummeting, Winter needed to re-establish some order. In a crisis, order saves lives, and in this instance, the lives in question belonged to her little sister and her future brother-in-law.

She stepped forward. "There's no time for this, we need to - "

However, her interjection came too late, as Ruby Rose held up the Relic of Knowledge and asked of it a question.

"What is Ozpin hiding?"

[/]

Miles away from the crash site, a second, much smaller furrow in the earth and snow had been scoured out by the impact of two falling teenagers. At its end, a boy held a girl tightly in a grip unloosened by the violent trauma of their impact.

A girl stirred, crystal-blue eyes blinking as slowly, she regained consciousness. Her head swam, and her vision blurred out of focus for a moment before the world reoriented itself.

"Jaune?"

Weiss tried to stand, her lover's grasp finally relinquishing its hold on her with her movement. She stumbled off to one side, falling back down to her hands and knees with her sense of balance upended, and vomited out her last meal into the churned earth. Weiss groaned at the painful clenching of her stomach, and spat a few times in an effort to rid herself of the acrid taste of vomit and bile in her mouth. She gulped in air with deep breaths, forcing herself to ignore the smell of her own vomit, and willing herself into something approaching equilibrium.

Slowly, she stood, her legs shaking briefly before stilling.

"Jaune?"

She carefully made her way over to him. He was laying still, far too still. Blood oozed from a nasty gash on his head. Trying to contain her growing urge to panic, Weiss called upon her training as a Huntress. Her hand trembled as she reached out to take his pulse. It was faint, almost imperceptible in its weakness, but it was there. As she watched, his armored chest rose and fell.

Weiss struggled to keep a level head. She wanted to weep, from relief that Jaune was still alive and from terror that he might not stay that way. Winter had always told her that " in a crisis, order saves lives," and here she saw the truth in that saying. Jaune needed her now, and in order to save both his life and her own, Weiss needed to maintain her focus. The first thing she needed to do was to ascertain if it would be safe to move him -

The buzzing of insectoid wings rapidly altered her plan of action. First, she needed to fend off the Grimm that had followed them, or else Jaune would have no chance of survival, irrespective of his ability to be moved. She drew Myrtenaster, the silvery blade gleaming in the wan light of the mountain air. Carefully, Weiss peeked over the lip of the impact trench.

She flinched away from the stinger that abruptly darted towards her head, the sharpened barb bursting through the packed snow beside her. The buzzing of the Queen Lancer's wings grew in intensity as the insect Grimm pulled back to retract its primary weapon. Drawing upon her ancestral Semblance, Weiss propelled herself into the air, her rapier blade keening as it split the air. She scored a glancing hit to the torso of the monstrous wasp, then created another glyph to propel her to the side. As she darted through the air, the Grimm followed in close pursuit, leaving Jaune alone for the time being.

Weiss hit the snow and rolled, ignoring the wet chill of the slush that seeped through her jacket and dress. She scowled as the Queen Lancer's stinger slammed into the ground where she had just landed. Weiss was willing to bet that a single great cleave of her Arma-Gigas's greatsword would kill the Grimm, or at least wound it so grievously that she could finish it off herself, but thanks to Winter's advanced training, she knew better than to risk leaving herself too open while summoning it. If she were to be injured or killed, Jaune would not survive, and that was an outcome that Weiss Schnee would not allow.

What she needed was a plan. Weiss frowned. As much as she was loathe to admit it, she had become accustomed to having either Ruby or Jaune, sometimes both, come up with an implausible and reckless plan that somehow, as if by magic, worked to defeat their enemies. What made it even more impressive was that neither Ruby nor Jaune possessed her level of encyclopedic knowledge on the Grimm, with Ruby having skipped ahead of two years' worth of schooling, and Jaune literally making it up as he went along.

Once, back at Beacon, Weiss had actually sat the two of them down and asked them how they did it. Ruby's answer - "Throw Boom at it until Awesome happens" - had been less than helpful, confirming that, much like the proverbial centipede, she didn't quite know how she did what she did just yet. Weiss was sure that her trek across Anima had forced her to refine her tactical mindset, but she hadn't thought to ask her about it in their time together in Mistral. Jaune, surprisingly, had given her a more useful response, having developed something of a process.

Firstly, he had - correctly - attributed all of Team JNPR's victories to the skill and ability of his teammates. Without developing an in-depth knowledge of his teammates' strengths, weaknesses, capabilities and demeanor, none of his leadership style would have been possible. Secondly, he tended to hang back at the beginning of a fight and carefully observe how the enemy would respond to his friends' actions, looking for potential weaknesses, vulnerabilities, or even environmental factors that he could exploit. The key was being open to finding the right opportunity. Finally, he would commit to an action, either himself or, more usually, as an order, to avoid paralysis through overthinking and to "just roll with it."

Weiss spared a moment to look around and take in her surroundings. A few dozen yards away from where she stood, a rocky incline looked good and loose, with stones of various sizes already beginning to fall just from the distant impacts of the Queen Lancer's strikes on the ground. Without the time to sit and specifically, plan, Weiss _acted._ She dashed towards the higher ground, zigzagging to dodge the heavy blows of the insectoid Grimm. Finding a boulder of suitable size, the Huntress made an acrobatic flip to balance atop the stone and spun her blade in a flourish, summoning a trio of glyphs, one under her feet, and the other two in the air..

The Queen Lancer sent its killing stinger hurtling towards the girl. Weiss stood resolute, her focus unwavering. At the last possible moment, Weiss flew from her perch, and the Grimm's stinger crashed into the boulder… and embedded itself deeply into the heavy stone. The monstrous bug attempted to retract its stinger, only to find itself trapped. Its movements growing frantic, the creature eventually succeeded in jerking its appendage free, ripping the boulder from the hillside, causing more rocks to fall from their own resting places.

That was when Weiss landed on her third glyph, one that she had summoned behind the Grimm, and dashed towards her foe with a scream. The safety limiter on her Multiaction Dust Rapier disabled, the Huntress expended _all_ of her Wind Dust in a mighty blast of forced air, a cyclone focused at the point of a blade. The Queen Lancer crashed into the hillside as though it had been ejected from a cannon, hitting with a tremendous impact. The entire incline collapsed upon the insect, raining heavy stones, boulders, and tons of earth onto the malignant creature. Its delicate wings were smashed and sundered. As the Queen Lancer thrashed and attempted to pull itself free from the crushing weight under which it had been trapped, it succeeded in escaping… though leaving its lower half behind, to evaporate into Grimmsmoke under the fallen rock and soil.

Weiss stalked up to the crippled hornet. It was crippled and dying, but, as she could well attest, there was a monumental difference between _dying_ and _dead_. She flipped Myrtenaster over in her hand, holding it point-down in both hands like a spear, driving it between two of the Grimm's faux-chitinous plates and impaling the creature, pinning it to the ground. While keeping her hand on the hilt of her sword, she used her right hand, her off hand, to draw the Predator Heavy Pistol that Ruby had customized for her. Her gaze was a impassive as unmoving ice as she opened fire. The gun kicked in her hand, but she continued to shoot into the Queen Lancer's head until it burst in a gout of oily black Grimmsmoke. The rest of the monster began to follow suit, but it wasn't until she had taken the opportunity to scan for any other Grimm that Weiss allowed herself to relax.

She needed to get Jaune and get to the main crash site. Her sister and her friends could need her too.

Returning to the site of their own crash, Weiss used her sash and some stones to try and brace Jaune's neck as best she could. She was bone-weary, especially since activating that much Dust at once bit deeply into her Aura reserves, but she could worry about that later. In that moment, all that mattered was that she was able to draw upon her Semblance without interruption.

The Arma Gigas materialized before her, bowing to her before carefully scooping up Jaune in its arms. Weiss found Jaune's rifle in the snow, and after checking to see that it was still functional and loaded, she carried it as a first shot against anything that would try to attack them.

They set off in the direction of the pillar of smoke.

[/]

At the crash site, all hell had broken loose.

"What do you mean?!" Qrow raged. "What was your plan?! _What was it all for?!"_

"There…" an ancient wizard had fallen to adolescent knees, venerable tears eons in the making streaming down a face that had not yet seen fifteen years. "There _is_ no plan."

Pure shock.

And then, in a growling cry of sheer outrage, Qrow Branwen slugged a fourteen-year old straight in the face, sending the small teenage boy flying through the air, to crash against a tree.

"Qrow!"

He ignored the Atlesian Specialist crying his name, and glared down at the boy, and the wizard dwelling within him. "Meeting you was the worst luck of my life," he spat, before walking off.

Ruby and Nora were the only ones to come to Oscar's aid, Nora because, no matter what Ozpin may have done or neglected to do, that was still Cute Little Boy Ozpin getting knocked around, and Ruby because, well, that's just who Ruby Rose was. Lie Ren was currently sitting next to the fire, his nose bleeding from the strain of trying, and failing, to contain and mitigate that much powerful emotion from so many people. Winter stomped over to Qrow, who was doing his level best to drain his flask in a single long draw.

"This isn't the time for this!" she snapped.

"Looks like the perfect time to me," Qrow replied, before continuing to chug. The Ol' Burn wasn't working like it should, for some reason. Clearly, he needed to keep drinking until it did.

"Qrow, my sister is still out there!"

"Whoop-de-doo," he said, twirling his finger in an expression of supreme indifference. "Y'ever think that maybe she just ain't cut out for this sort of life? Girl can't go a week without us needing to go call the cavalry and save her scrawny butt. Literally. I counted."

She stared at him, stunned. "Qrow?"

"I'm just sayin', maybe gettin' lost is the best thing couldda happen to her, y'know? Hell, she even has her little boyfriend with her. Can make a cabin or something, have a bunch of little annoying kids, live a life away from _Oz_ and all his bullshit." He stared glumly at the flask in his hand before taking another long draw, actually emptying it that time. "Maybe it's what I shouldda done."

Winter glared at him. "Even if you had regrets, crashing into the mountainous wilderness is not how one starts a new life. Come on, we need to hurry and find them before it gets dark."

Qrow sat heavily by the fire, his gaze leagues and decades away. He sat in silence.

"Qrow, please, I need your help!"

"Whatever. Not my problem." From where he sat, he couldn't see the hurt in her eyes.

"Why won't you -"

"Get lost."

After a long moment, Winter stormed away. A long time ago, she had seen her mother destroyed when she had fallen for the wrong man, and a long time ago, she swore that she would never let someone crush her the way her mother had been crushed. And yet, despite such a poignant example before her, she had gone and done the same damn thing, dropping her defenses and letting someone close enough to make it hurt when he lashed out at her. It was her own fault, really, for trying to see more in a worthless, miserable drunk than just a mere worthless, miserable drunk. But where her mother had let that pain destroy her, Winter would let it make her stronger.

If there were tears in her eyes, she forced them into ice, the same ice that had guarded her heart for so long. An ice so cold that it burned. By the time she reached the young trainees, there was no sign that she had ever been anything other than completely composed. Lives depended on her being so.

[/]

"If you wake up, I promise that I'll tell Yang that I threw up _spectacularly_ back there," Weiss said as she and her summon trudged through the snow. "I'll even allow her to call me Vomit Girl without stabbing her, even a little. We can be Vomit Boy and Vomit Girl, and we'll have Ruby draw a positively nauseating comic book series about our upchucking exploits, and I'll be utterly outraged the whole time."

Jaune didn't respond.

"You drive a hard bargain," Weiss conceded. "If you wake up, I promise to tell everyone that I beat the Queen Lancer by deliberately emulating your thought process. Won't that be validating? Everyone will know that you're so tactically-adept that even mimicking you can result in success. Of course, this only happens if you wake up."

Jaune didn't respond.

Weiss grunted as she picked her heel out of a particularly deep snowbank. "Okay, my love, how about this? If you wake up, I promise to admit to everyone that you were right about the heels being impractical wear for a Huntress. In fact, because I love you _so much_, I'll even admit that I wear heels for two reasons; because they make me taller, and because I enjoy the clickitty-clacky sounds that they make."

Jaune didn't respond.

"... please?"

[/]

Ruby had never felt sorry for a Beowulf before, but after seeing the atrocity that Winter had committed upon the unfortunate Grimm that had crossed their path… well, there's a first time for everything, right?

"Are… are you okay?" she asked, nervously.

"I'm fine," answered the soldier.

After having met Penny, Ruby never understood why movies and TV shows depicted robots as being entirely without emotion. From the answer that Winter had just given her, it turned out that people could be _way_ colder and devoid of feeling than her lost robo-buddy had ever been.

Aw. Penny was always so enthusiastic and gleeful to be out and experiencing new things. Ruby missed her friend, the only girl she'd ever met who was even more awkward than herself. Still, she couldn't dwell on the people she'd already lost, when there were people she hadn't lost yet. Both of her besties needed her now.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm sure Uncle Qrow will be able to find them in no time!"

Ruby swore she heard a glacier crack as Winter turned to regard her. The good news: yay, there was emotion! The bad news: oh crap, there was emotion!

"Your uncle apparently had much more important things to be doing than helping me find my sister and her intended," Winter said, visibly trying not to take too venomous a tone as she spoke to the young teenager.

"Really? Like what? Because with his bird form, he could do this lickitty-split -"

"Drinking," the soldier interjected. "He found drowning his sorrows to be more worthwhile an endeavor."

Ruby stopped. "He… what?"

Winter sighed and closed her eyes. She shouldn't have said that. This was a dispute between adults, and Ruby was scarcely more than a child, one with nothing but the purest intentions. "I'm sorry, Miss Rose. It wasn't my intention to disclose your uncle's bad habits in such a manner. It was… emotionally vexing for me."

To her surprise, Ruby just let out a bitter laugh. "You think this is the first time he's done something like this? Yeah, you can always count on Uncle Qrow, until you can't. You keep going, Auntie Winter, I'll be back in a jiffy."

"Where are you going?" asked Winter, puzzled.

"To go kick his butt in gear, of course!" the girl called, just before disappearing in a burst of rose petals.

[/]

"No, no, no no no no no…" Weiss strained to keep her Arma Gigas summon manifested just a little while longer, but the construct began disintegrating into ice crystals as her Aura gave out. The arms holding her Jaune were the last to go, and she practically collapsed under his weight. Had she always been this weak?

She couldn't carry him on her back, and she couldn't carry him in her arms. She had to set his lower body onto the snowy ground, and then carefully drag his upper body, walking backwards in the direction of the smoke plume. She didn't know how long she had been walking, but it had to have gotten closer, right? Those are just the rules.

Weiss panted heavily as she dragged her Jaune towards the general direction of safety.

[/]

Qrow sat still, gazing into the fire. Technically, he was on watch. In reality, he didn't care. The only ones still left in the camp were himself and Oz. Was it the boy this time, or the wizard? He didn't know. Hell, he didn't care. The former was friggin' toast, doomed to be served up and devoured by Ozma, the great and terrible.

What an asshole.

If Ozma was king of the assholes, Qrow supposed that that made him, like, the duke of assholes. Maybe the earl of assholes. Which ranked higher, a duke or an earl? The things you miss out learnin' when you grow up as part of a pack of murderers out in the woods. His head fell as another thought occurred to him. Raven was right. The crazy bitch was right all along. Not about leavin' Tai and Yang, no, but about ditchin' Ozzie? Yeah, turns out that wasn't such a dumb idea after all.

Well. Shit.

His emergency booze was depleted now, which is why Qrow had drawn his second flask, his emergency-emergency booze. This was building up to be an all-time legendary binge here.

That was why he wasn't too surprised when he saw Summer Rose sit down across from him. He just toasted her with his flask. Wasn't the first time he'd got well and truly blitzed enough to see her, and it wouldn't be the last. Sheesh, she really did look just like Ruby. It was kind of spooky. Like, if she'd come from Atlas, he'd half-expect them to have a whole assembly line of Roses, the Rose 2.0 Huntress Bot. Actually, given what they'd seen at the Vytal Festival, how sure were they _really_ that Ruby wasn't some kind of freaky android -

"Shut up, Uncle Qrow. You're drunk."

Shit. Had he been talkin' out loud?

"Yep. And I'm Ruby, not Mom. But what I can say is that Mom would be so disappointed in you right now."

"Oh, is that right?" Qrow's red eyes blearily focused on the girl. "Time for the ol' Ruby Rose lecture, izzit? Can't wait to hear the wisdom of someone less than half muh age. G'won, brat, let's hear it."

"He carried you, you know."

"Who?"

"Jaune."

"And that is…."

Silver eyes narrowed. "The blonde boy. The knight. He carried you, with me, a quarter of the way across Anima, after Tyrian poisoned you. He didn't really like you much. He didn't tell me why, but at a guess, I'd say it has something to do with Pyrrha. Do you have any idea how hard you have to work at messing him up for him to hold a grudge against you? One of our classmates blackmailed him once, beat him up, threw him into a rocket locker, and he _still_ pulled through to save his butt when it counted. Because that's just who he is. And whatever grudge he had against you, it wasn't enough to keep him from carrying you across Anima. Or from rushing to keep you safe when the Nuckalevee attacked at Kuroyuri."

"Hey, now, I saved his butt too, back at Beacon."

"Yep. Because you're a professional Huntsman. Or at least, you were. Because Huntsmen save people. Even people they don't like. Even people they wish would fall off a bridge. But instead of all of that, you're here. Drinking."

Qrow was silent, gazing into the fire.

"I don't know if Winter's going to still want anything to do with you after this," Ruby admitted. "If I knew someone could have helped Yang when she was in danger, and didn't, I wouldn't want to be with them. But if it turns out that she doesn't, I want you to remember something." The girl looked her uncle in the eyes. "It wasn't luck that drove her off. It was _you_. What you said, what you did, and what you didn't do. And if this is how you treated Mom back in the day, it's no wonder that she chose Dad over you."

Well. Shit.

He'd dared the girl to take her best shot, and that shot hit a lot harder than he'd thought. At some point, he was going to have to learn to stop underestimating Ruby Rose.

"It might not be too late," she said.

"What do you mean?"

Ruby tossed a stick into the fire. "If you take off now, right now, and find Winter's little sister for her, it _might_ be enough to convince her from dumping you outright. Maybe. But it's a start."

Ah hell. Qrow stood, wobbling unsteadily on his feet.

"Here, take this," Ruby said, as she handed him a flare gun. "When you find them, set it off so that everyone else will see. It's obvious that you won't be carrying anyone back in your condition."

Qrow frowned. "Hey… thanks, kid." Ruby was silent as he transformed into his bird form, and shakily flew off.

She sighed deeply. Oftentimes, she was the only one who could reach Qrow at all when he was in that sort of mood. Ruby had taken a guess at the relationship between her uncle and her mother, but from Qrow's reaction, she'd hit on the money. It didn't give her any joy to find her uncle's guilt button and slam it down, but she'd have felt a lot worse if Weiss and Jaune froze to death in the mountains while their best scout was drinking himself stupid next to a bonfire. After checking that Oscar was okay, she took off back in the direction that she'd left Winter.

[/]

Her breath coming in deep, short pants, Weiss continued to drag Jaune along. The situation was bad. The sun was setting, and with it, the temperature was dropping, and all the while, Weiss was growing weaker. Her arms felt like they could give out at any moment, her back was screaming, and she was about ready to swear off heels forever due to the ache in her legs and feet. Her pleas and bargains towards her comatose lover were now made only in her mind, as she could no longer spare the breath to speak them out loud.

Weiss stopped as she heard the sound of beating wings. Not a buzzing like the lancer, so a bird. Possibly a Nevermore? Carefully, she propped Jaune against a tree, and drew her gun and sword. She knew that she had no chance of defeating a Nevermore in her current state, but perhaps she could make enough of a ruckus before it killed her that the others would be able to find Jaune and save him. With that being said, she still opted to hide behind another tree, opposite of Jaune's. While she would lay down her life for his, that didn't mean that she wouldn't take the opportunity to hide from the massive avian Grimm and avoid the fight altogether if she could. As she had told Jaune, there was a huge difference between "ready to die if necessary" and "throwing oneself headlong into danger."

She lowered her heavy pistol as she saw a familiar small crow weaving erratically through the air, flying towards her. Weiss raised her arms in the air, waving. "Qrow! Qrow! Down here!"

A moment later, the bird transformed into her sister's lover, the scruffy Huntsman swaying unsteadily on his feet. "Ha!" he cried out. "I found you! Found you after all! Ha!" With that, he keeled over and proceeded to puke his guts out into the snow.

Weiss stared at the man in concern. Was he injured, suffering a concussion the way she had? Her concern only grew as he collapsed face-first into the steaming puddle of his own vomit.

"Sir Qrow!"

Weiss staggered over to him. With effort, she held up his head as his unconscious body continued to violently expel the contents of his stomach while Weiss did all she could to keep the man from drowning in his own sick. She ended up laying him on his side and propping his head up on a log. His shirt was beyond salvage, but he was alive, and eventually, the puking gave way to dry heaves as his body ran out of material to expel.

The smell was awful, but Weiss found she couldn't very well hold it against the man, when he'd obviously pushed himself through an injury for her sake, as well as Jaune's. She was trying not to panic at the notion of having _two_ comatose Huntsmen to somehow drag through the woods to the crash site - Ruby and Yang would never forgive her for leaving Qrow behind, especially after what he'd risked for her - when she noticed the flare gun sticking out of the back of his waistband.

She checked the item, found that it was loaded, and fired it directly overhead. A massive red ball burned into the air above them, a beacon that would be visible for miles. Weiss wanted to collapse into unconsciousness, but both Jaune and Qrow needed her until help could arrive. She grabbed some fresh snow in her hand and cleaned the sick off of Qrow's face as best she could. Weiss sighed as she propped him up next to her Jaune. What kind of heroic drive led the man to push through his injury to find them?

Sir Qrow was just as brave and stupid as Jaune, it seemed. It appeared as though Schnee women have a certain type after all.

Well, she would just have to match such gallantry with her own brand of determination. Carefully, she checked the wound on the side of Jaune's head. It had scabbed over, but beyond stopping the blood loss, Weiss had no idea how to determine the extent of the injury. Now that she knew that help would be coming, she could take the time to see about bandaging the wound properly. She had a small medkit in her belt pouch, but as she struggled to open it, she realized that her hands were shaking too hard from the cold.

Fortunately, being at the edge of the treeline meant that there was plenty of wood nearby. It was wet, having been covered in snow, but Weiss didn't care, as some burn Dust would take care of that nicely. Soon, she had a small fire going, just as the sun disappeared below the Argus mountains.

Her fingers had warmed sufficiently to where she felt ready to make another attempt at her medkit, when she heard footsteps in the snow.

"Weiss! Jaune! Is that you?"

Weiss felt her shoulders slump as she recognized her sister's voice. They were saved.

"Winter!" She stood and waved her arms. "Jaune and Qrow are wounded! Come help me!"

Ruby had accompanied Winter as well, and with the flare up in the sky, it wasn't long before most the rest of the team had gathered around them. Surrounded by her loved ones, Weiss finally allowed herself to succumb to exhaustion, and fell into a deep sleep.

[/]

She came to in a bedroll next to a roaring bonfire, one much larger than the small campfire that she'd manage to build herself.

"What… what happened?" Weiss asked. She started to climb out of the bedroll before catching sight of her skirt, bolero and bustier hanging on a line by the fire, next to Jaune's hooded sweatshirt and jeans. Opting not to give everyone a show of her wearing only her panties, Weiss decided that staying in the bedroll was fine. Warm, too.

"I'm glad to see you've awakened," Winter told her. She brought a bowl of some kind of broth and held it out to her. Weiss sat up, holding the front of the bedroll up under her arms, and sipped the warm broth gratefully.

"How is Jaune?"

Winter gestured to where her Jaune was resting in a bedroll nearby. "I treated him as best as I could, but the medbay aboard the _Stardust _is, obviously, gone. There was still material I could salvage from it. From experience, it doesn't appear as though he will be paralyzed, but head injuries are obviously very dangerous and unpredictable."

Weiss blinked back her tears. "He saved me," she said, her voice small. " He saved me again. I went to save him, but when the Queen Lancer destroyed my construct… we fell, and he used his Semblance to save me instead."

The older Schnee sister sighed. She had done all she could with what she had at hand, but it wasn't enough. All that was left to do now was to keep Jaune warm and safe, and wait to see if the boy's Aura would enable him to recover on his own.

"So, what happened next?" she prompted Weiss.

"We hit the ground. I lost consciousness for a while, before waking up concussed. My Aura eventually took care of that, but the Queen Lancer attacked. I was able to defeat it by luring it into a landslide. Incidentally, good call with the pistol, sister, as it came in handy. I was able to use a construct to carry Jaune most of the way, but after my Aura gave out, I had to drag him. Sir Qrow found -"

"Don't call him that," spat Winter. Weiss paused, taken aback by the venom in her sister's voice.

"What? What's wrong?"

Winter glared at the unconscious form of Qrow Branwen, who had been deposited on the opposite side of the bonfire by his nieces. "He is unworthy of your regard, and mine," she told her little sister.

"But… he found us! And he was injured as well!"

"Weiss, tell me, what happened when he found the two of you?"

Weiss frowned. "He transformed back into a human, said something to the effect of 'ha, found you,' proceeded to violently vomit, and then passed out. I assume that he had been suffering a concussion as well, and had forced himself through it in order to - "

"He was drunk Weiss."

"...what?"

"He had refused to join in the search for you and Jaune, drank himself blackout drunk, and only stirred himself at the behest of your partner."

The teenage Huntress was confused. "But…" she stopped as she realized that every symptom she had seen in him could also be explained by a state of inebriation. "Why would he allow himself to get _that_ drunk in an emergency?"

Winter sighed. "There are… events that conspired in your absence that you will need to be aware of, as well as Jaune, when he awakens. The implications of these revelations are troubling, though it seems as though Branwen lacks the mental fortitude to compartmentalize these emotions and carry on. He decided that numbing himself with drink was more important than finding you."

Weiss fell silent. That felt… wrong. She'd seen Qrow Branwen bash his way through all manner of traumatic events, from the Fall of Beacon to his sister's betrayal. She wouldn't call his method of coping _healthy_, by any stretch of the imagination, but to have imploded so completely?

"But… he _did_ decide to look for us in the end," Weiss told her sister. "And without the flare gun that he brought, I doubt we would have been found in time."

"I believe that that is more thanks to Ruby Rose than to her uncle," Winter said, her voice bitter.

"Are you okay, Winter?"

The soldier scoffed. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"...Because you must have tried to convince him yourself, and he must have refused you."

"I'm no stranger to disappointment," Winter said, gazing at the ground.

The two sisters sat together in silence for a moment. "I hate seeing him like this," Weiss said.

"Which one?"

"Both."

"... At least yours is strong and honorable," Winter muttered.

"He isn't always," replied Weiss. "There are times where he buckles under the weight of his own guilt. There are times when his anger and his grief makes him do reckless, dangerous things. I've held him as he's cried. Back at Beacon, I used to keep track of ways that he would put himself down, and actively fight to keep his self-esteem from flagging." She smiled sadly at her unconscious Jaune. "If you're looking for a man who will always be strong all the time, you'll never find him. The way my relationship with Jaune works… when one of us is weak, the other holds strong. We're a team. From what you said, Qrow was extremely weak today. I guess you'll need to decide if the good times are good enough to outweigh the bad. Or if you're even able to reach him when he's at his lowest. If you can pull him back, it might be worth it, but if you can't mesh together… well, you may need to cut him loose. For your own sake."

"He's a drunk," mumbled Winter.

"You knew that and chose to be with him anyway," Weiss reminded her. "You must have seen something of value in him. It's just, now you're seeing all of who he is, the ugly parts as well as the good, and that's something you'll have to decide if it's worth trying to manage or not."

"Weiss Schnee, relationship counselor," her sister joked.

"I'll file that behind voice actor and smut mogul."

"Smut… mogul?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow at her older sister. "What can I say? I am a woman of many talents."

Winter just shook her head and ruffled Weiss's hair. "I'm glad to have you safe."

"One day, you won't have to worry anymore," Weiss said softly. "I'll be living a less-dangerous life, with my husband and…" she fell off, blinking back tears as she looked at Jaune. "He'll awaken, right?"

She felt Winter take her into her arms, wrapping them tightly around her over the bedroll and pulling her into her lap. The soldier hummed to her, rocking her gently as she had done when they were children. Weiss allowed herself to be lulled back to sleep.

[/]

It said something that Qrow was not surprised to find himself waking up with a splitting headache, a downright horrific taste in his mouth, and his two nieces regarding him with flat, deadpan expressions. With a groan, he forced himself to sit up. Early morning in the mountains somewhere. "Ugh, where are we?" he asked. He pulled out his flask of emergency booze to rinse the taste out, only to find it empty. Huh. Must have been a good one. When he reached into his other flask to access his emergency-emergency booze to find it depleted as well, he stared at both it and his nieces in betrayal.

"You emptied my booze?"

Yang just shook her head. "No Uncle Qrow, _you_ emptied your booze," Ruby told him. "Congratulations! You did it! You managed to drink all the alcohol!"

Qrow pinched the bridge of his nose. Wow. He hadn't had a tear that bad in years. "How bad is it?" he asked.

"You… may have made Winter mad." Ruby said.

"Heh. What else is new?"

"No, Qrow. Not like 'let's go fight and then make out where we think no one is watching' mad. Like 'she may actually want nothing to do with you' mad."

"For the record, if she does leave you, I'm totally gonna try to catch her on the rebound," Yang added helpfully. Both her sister and uncle turned to look at her. "What? I'm lonely, and she's hot. Besides, our dad is, like, Lord of the Rebound. It's a Xiao Long family tradition!"

Qrow just shrugged ruefully, while Ruby rolled her eyes. "So, what do you remember?" she asked her uncle.

He grunted as he cast his mind back. "Left Mistral, boarded gaudy airship. Attacked by Grimm. Too many Grimm." His face darkened. "Oz lied. There's no plan to deal with Salem for good. Never was. Everything I did was for a lie. Punched him in his smug face."

"Yeah, I'd appreciate it if you could not pummel poor Oscar in the future," Ruby interjected.

"He won't be Oscar for very long. He'll be consumed by the wizard, just like every other host."

Ruby's silver eyes narrowed dangerously at him. "Leave him alone. Last warning, Uncle Qrow."

Qrow spat. "No promises."

"Do you remember what happened after that?" Yang asked.

He paused. "I… uh… no, not really."

"Weiss and Jaune were missing in the mountains," Ruby told him. "Winter came to you to ask for your help, but you had already started drinking. Not only did you refuse to help her find her sister and her future brother-in-law, _my best friends_, but whatever you said to her hurt her a lot. She was trying not to cry when she came to us. She didn't think we could see it, but we did."

Well. Shit.

See, why is it that, whenever he tried to be straight with people and _warn_ them that he was a certified disaster of a human being, they always tried to see some good in him that just wasn't there, and ended up getting burnt by it? He'd warned her. She'd warned herself!

"Tell him the next part," Yang prodded her sister.

"Fine." Ruby relented. "When Winter told me you weren't searching, I came back to yell at you. You went off, drunk, found Weiss and Jaune, still drunk, then threw up everywhere and passed out. Poor Weiss thought that you'd gone looking for them while fighting through a serious concussion."

"So… they're okay then."

"Oh, so now you care?"

Qrow winced at the bitter tone of his younger niece's voice. "That bad, huh?"

"Aunt…" Ruby shook her head. "_Miss_ Winter said that part of being an adult means dealing with the consequences of your choices. Well, here are your consequences; everyone involved in this is angry with you. Weiss is disappointed that her assumption was wrong."

"And Winter may actually try to stab you if you don't figure out something _spectacular_ to say to her in the next five minutes," Yang chirped. "But no, seriously, dibs on the rebound."

"I don't think you can call 'dibs' on relationships, Yang," Ruby told her sister.

"Ruby, everything falls under the rule of dibs," replied Yang. She wrapped an arm around her younger sister, and the pair wandered off from Qrow.

The consequences, huh? As he pulled himself to his feet, the Huntsman looked down to find one of the consequences of his actions; the state of his shirt was nothing short of appalling, and he didn't have any spares.

"Ah, hell," he muttered. This was going to be one of those days, wasn't it?

[/]

Using some odds and ends salvaged from the _Stardust_, they fashioned a pair of clamps to hold up the front half of a stretcher, connecting it to Yang's motorcycle. Yang would push the cycle, walking alongside it, while Nora held up the rear of the stretcher. As they carefully laid Jaune onto it, Qrow couldn't help but feel a vague sense of guilt, the reason for which he couldn't quite place.

He found Winter consulting with Belladonna and Ren. "...So Belladonna takes point, while Ren takes up the rear. You'll both stay at least ten meters away from the main body of the party. Belladonna, if you find tracks, or signs of an ambush, signal a halt. Ren, if you seen anything approach from behind, shout and rejoin the party. Are there any questions?"

"No, ma'am."

"No."

"Good." Winter paused as she regarded the pair of quiet teens. "For the record, I'm glad that my sister chose to attend Beacon Academy. Her friends are as loyal as they are skillful. Irrespective of how this mission goes, you all have bright futures ahead of you. _All_ of you," she repeated, looking to Blake as she did so. "Let's get underway."

As the pair departed, Winter looked to see Qrow. "Later," she said, as perfunctorily as if she had been discussing some minor detail such as lunch plans.

"Hey, I just wanted to say - "

She rounded on him. "Whatever you have to say to me can wait until we are in a reasonably secure location, not before. _Some_ of us still remember how to prioritize."

Qrow winced as she walked off, not sparing him a second glance. He may have deserved that. He was also a bit disturbed to find that the return of her icy demeanor stung more than if she had screamed at him, or hit him.

The team marched through the snow, headed northeast in the direction of the city of Argus. It was slower going than Winter would have preferred, but then, she may have been spoiled by years of airship transportation. She tried not to get annoyed as she saw Qrow fly ahead. Of course the last wizard on Remnant would choose to gift such power to a drunk and a bandit. She frowned as she remembered her sister's advice. Was that as low as Qrow would go? Was that his rock bottom? If so, could she even begin to pull him from it? Did she even want to bother?

Ultimately, she supposed, her relationship with Qrow hinged on the answer to a single question: if she tried, would she pull him out of his toxic lifestyle, or would he drag her down with him?

Whatever the answer, she certainly wouldn't be able to find it without at least a long, serious conversation with the man, and, as she had told him before, that needed to wait until they were safe.

Eventually, they found a mountain road, and the remains of trade caravan of some sort. It must have been hit by Grimm, as the goods were mostly intact. They were able to salvage some Dust rounds and minor supplies, but most of the goods were of no use to them. What was of more use was the trailer that they found to be in reasonably good condition. By hitching it to Bumblebee and hopping aboard, they were able to make much better time. Winter watched as her sister carefully tended to her fiancee's head wound, gently changing the bandages and making sure that it was as clean and sterile as it could be.

"Weiss," she called to her sister. "When we get to Argus, it may be more prudent to adopt your alias until such time as we are secure." The younger woman looked as if she wanted to protest, so Winter interjected. "Jaune will need medical attention, and if people working for our father know you are there, they may attack him to get to you. I know you do not wish to put our name aside, but your discretion could well save his life."

Weiss sighed. "Very well. I see your point, sister."

The city of Argus was just as lovely as Weiss had remembered, moreso as she took it in from a scenic view overlooking it instead of scurrying away under the cover of darkness, as she had done while being pursued by SDC men. Rolling hills and snowcapped buildings passed by as they made their way towards a hospital. For obvious reasons, hospitals were uniformly built extraordinarily resilient and in the center of a settlement, to avoid Grimm assailing the wounded, ill and dying. Gently, Ren and Nora brought Jaune on the stretcher, entering the hospital alongside Jaune.

Weiss strode up to the desk attendant. "We have a trainee Huntsman with a head wound that needs to be seen right away."

"Of course, miss," the clerk said, pressing a button. A team of orderlies soon arrived, transferring Jaune onto a gurney and into a treatment center. "Do you have his name?" he asked, drawing Weiss's attention back from where she had been watching them wheel Jaune away.

"Yes, his name is Jaune Arc," Weiss told him. "Will we be able to see him?"

"What's your relationship to the injured?"

"I'm his wife," she told him. "My name is White. Snow White."

[/]

Being a nurse in a major city such as Argus was a demanding task. Hundreds of patients came in and out, all day every day, with needs ranging from mundane checkups to grievous injuries caused by Grimm, as well as the myriad diseases and syndromes that required medical attention. But nurses, like anyone else, are also people, and people tend to have friends. In this instance, a nurse working at Argus General happened to notice that a newly admitted patient, a Huntsman, shared a last name with one of her friends, a charming woman named Saphron. So, when she got a break, she took the opportunity to ring up her friend and ask if there was a relation there.

"Yes, Jaune is my brother. Is he there? Is he hurt?!"

"Don't know the details, just that it was a head wound. He's there now with your sister-in-law."

"...My _what?!_"

[/]

There must have been some mistake. Not about Jaune getting hurt - gods know the boy was always a klutz, and a trouble magnet to boot - but Jaune, their little Jauney, getting _married_? Was that even legal? He was only… Saphron's eyes widened as she realized that Jaune was almost nineteen years old now. Maidens, where did the time go? It seemed like only yesterday that he was a snot-nosed, dorky twelve year old begging their parents to train him to be a Huntsman.

She presented her ID at the desk, and was directed to a recovery room. She quietly pushed open the door, blinking at what she saw within.

Laying on a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV and with the telltale beeping of a heart monitor, Jaune - and it was unmistakably her baby brother - rested still and peacefully. Seated in a chair next to him was a tiny slip of a girl in blue, with white hair and wearing a tiara, of all things. The girl was leaned over to rest her head next to him, and held his hand. And sure enough, on the heartfinger of her left hand, she wore a ring with the unmistakable signet of the Arc family.

Huh. Doobie-damn, her baby brother managed to attract a mate after all.

Before she could decide if she should announce herself or not, the door closed behind her, revealing a tall, dark haired young man and a short, orange-haired girl with ruddy cheeks. "Who are you?" the man asked carefully.

Saphron coughed. "Um, hello there. My name is Saphron. Saphron Cotta-Arc. I'm Jaune's sister. Well, one of them anyways."

The pair looked at each other, and then they visibly relaxed. Saphron released a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "You're Jaune-Jaune's sister?" the girl asked.

"Jaune-Jaune?"

"One of his many nicknames," the man explained. "You'll likely hear more of them as more of our friends arrive. Incidentally, my name is Lie Ren, and this is Nora Valkyrie. We're part of Jaune's team, Team JNPR."

"Pleased to meet you," Saphron said, shaking their hands, and trying not to wince at Nora's bone-crushing grip. "So, what's this I hear about Jaune being married?"

"Oh, that's Snow," Nora said, gesturing to the hospital bed where Weiss and Jaune rested. "They've been together-together for a while now. You don't have to worry about her, she's an absolute sugar cookie. Trust me, if she'd hurt Jaune-Jaune, I would've broken her legs by now."

"I… see." Saph really didn't.

"Yep! They're always saving each other's lives, and being way crazy super mushy. You'll see."

"So… do you know how Jaune was injured?"

"He was thrown from an exploding Atlas airship."

There was a pause.

"What?!"

The sudden outburst woke Weiss, who stirred by Jaune's side. "Nora, what's wrong?"

Nora smiled. "Wasn't me this time! We have a visitor for Jauney, Snowflake. Says she's Jaune's sister!"

That woke Weiss up with a quickness. She gave Jaune's hand a squeeze, then attempted to straighten her hair, stand up, shake Saphron's hand, and curtsey all at once, succeeding at about half of that. "Er, hello. I'm Snow, and I'm… well, I'm with Jaune."

Saphron snorted in amusement. "Gods preserve us, he's found a woman who's just as much of a dork as he is." She smiled at the younger woman. "Try to relax, I'm not going to bite your head off. Maybe. Depends on how you treat my baby brother. Oh, and I'm Saphron.'

"Oh, you're the eldest," Weiss said. "Jaune said you once had him dress up in drag to defend the honor of four of his sisters."

"He told you _that_ story?" Saphron was obviously surprised. "He said that he'd sooner gnaw his own leg off than tell anyone about that!"

"It was his way of breaking the ice on our first date. We were on the way to the Vytal Festival Dance."

"Wait, that was you?" Saphron pulled out her Scroll, then held up a video that she'd saved on it, where Weiss and Jaune shared their first dance, and then the rather daring Tango that occurred after it. "Wow, you had him target locked from the get-go, huh?"

Weiss flushed. "Your brother is… a very skilled dancer. I got caught up in the moment."

"Ha!" Saphron laughed. "I _knew_ the dance classes would pay off for him!" She pocketed her Scroll once more. "So, what's this about you marrying my baby brother?"

Before Weiss could begin to answer, a knock came at the door, and a doctor walked in. "Mrs. White?"

"Yes?" Weiss answered.

"Your husband's Aura is back online. We believe that it had been locked into a recursion to help him survive the extreme conditions in the mountain. He should make a full recovery within the next day or so."

Weiss slumped with relief as Nora whooped with joy. Weiss reached up to dab a tear at the corner of her eye, when Saphron offered her her handkerchief. "Thank you," she said as she accepted it. "And thank you, doctor," she said.

"All part of the job, miss," the doctor said before turning to leave. He was glad to deliver some good news for once. The girl looked far too young to be a widow.

[/]

"...and that's how your brother saved my life. I'm telling you, he's nothing short of amazing. The most amazing man I've ever met. No offense, Ren."

"None taken."

Jaune felt the voices speaking almost as much as he heard them. Gods, his head was pounding.

"Wow. It's still hard to believe that my baby brother did all of that."

"You should be very proud. I know I am."

Weiss?

"Guys?"

At that, all the conversation in the room stopped. Jaune tried to repeat himself, but all that came out was a groan.

"Jaune!"

Someone - several someones - rushed to his bedside, and it was only at the behest of a stern voice that he wasn't swamped. He blinked several times until his bleary vision came into focus.

"Hey, Snow Angel," he said, his voice hoarse.

She giggled in relief, tears in her eyes and a smile across her face. Weiss leaned down to kiss his forehead, but he reached up and pulled her into a deep and passionate kiss. She was the light in his life, and as long as she was with him, everything would be okay.

"Wow, you are right Nora, they _are_ just disgustingly cute together."

"Saphron?"

His oldest sister stepped into view. "Done falling out of airships for the near future, baby brother?"

He blinked. "How are you here? Where is here, anyway?"

"We're in Argus, where I live," Saph answered. "Apparently you forgot your seatbelt, and you made your poor tiny fiancee here drag your butt halfway to the city."

"You weren't that heavy," Weiss muttured, blushing.

Soon, the rest of their friends were ushered into the room, giving cheers at seeing him up and awake, making pleasant conversation with their comrade's sister as well. "Jaune," Saphron muttered to him. "You do realize you're surrounded by beautiful women, right?"

"Only have eyes for one," he said, smiling fondly as he saw Weiss talking with her sister at the other end of the room.

"That's my good boy," Saph said. She'd tussle his hair, but for the head injury. She smiled as she saw Snow approaching them. "You've got a little keeper there," she told him.

"Yep. Couldn't be happier."

"I'm glad for you, baby brother. Now do be good, and try not to give me any more heart attacks for at least a year, okay?"

"I can only promise to try."

Snow cleared her throat. "Attention everyone. While I was carrying Jaune across the Argus mountain range, I may have made some promises to him that I would fulfill if he woke up and came back to me, and now that he has, I need to make good on them."

"You don't need to do that," Jaune said, embarrassed.

"But you told me once that an Arc never goes back on their word, and since I'll be marrying into your family soon, I thought it best to get in practice now," she told him.

Saph caught her brother's attention. _Keeper_, she mouthed.

"So, without any further ado," Snow said. "Let it be known that I threw up in amazing fashion upon waking up on the mountain, and that I promised not to stab Yang if she began calling me 'Vomit Girl' as a consequence. Furthermore, Ruby has permission to make a full-on comic book of 'The Adventures of Vomit Boy and Vomit Girl.'"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Your weird Wei-Snow."

Snow continued her announcements. "Furthermore, let it be known that I was only able to defeat the Queen Lancer due to my active efforts to emulate Jaune's abilities in improvisation. The Arc Method proved to be an effective process for setting up and capitalizing off of opportunities, and he deserves all recognition for his brilliance."

His friends and family all cheered good-naturedly for him, even Winter. Jaune blushed under the adulation, but he'd be lying if he denied that he'd longed for that sort of recognition all his life.

"Finally," Snow said, "And this one hurts most of all… let it be known that Jaune Arc was right, and I was wrong as it pertains to the question of whether or not high heels are impractical wear for a Huntress. Having stomped through the mountains, I can confirm that they are. Furthermore, because I love Jaune _that much_, I must also confess that I enjoy wearing high heels due to the fact that they make me taller, as well as my finding the clickitty-clack noises that they make on hard surfaces to be pleasing."

"I knew it!" gasped Nora.

"That is all for discharging the promises made to my fiancee in exchange for his recovery," Snow said with a curtsey. She was met with cheers and applause, as Jaune just shook his head.

"You're an absolute goofball," he told her.

"Perhaps," she said, taking his hand. "But I'm _your_ goofball." They touched foreheads together, smiling and just enjoying each other's presence. The couple turned in unison after they heard the snap and saw the flash of a Scroll camera going off.

"This one's absolutely going to Mom and Dad," Saphron said.

**[/]**

**Chapter Endnotes: I always said, from the get-go, that Qrow and Winter's relationship was going to be rocky. Volume 6 was very much Qrow's sort of low point, his hitting rock bottom. Things are a little different here, since I had them bypass the farm, as well as not having met Maria Calavera. Yet, at least. But the main question with the two of them is whether or not they can (or are willing to} overcome their flaws to make the relationship work. And no, I didn't put that in to placate the readers who were upset with Snowbird, I was planning this rough patch in their relationship from the beginning.**

**I also touched on the bit of steel that Ruby displays in Volume 6 here. I won't have her make her whole "we don't need adults speech," mostly because, with the exception of herself and Oscar, the entire cast consists of adults at that point in the story. They even made a point of Yang asserting herself as an adult in Volume 4. Go figure. But standing up for herself and her friends when the so-called professionals are making a mess of things? Yeah, that's Ruby all the way.**

**The hell is "Aura Recursion?" I dunno, we're talking mystical soul-magic here. I just wanted a good reason for Jaune to go into, and come out of, a coma, and going into a coma to shut down all non-vital functions and stay alive until medical help could be found made sense to me.**

**I get the feeling that Weiss would be expecting Jaune's sisters to act as protective as Winter is to her, only to be thrown by them being shippers on deck, especially once they get to know her and see her relationship with Jaune for themselves.**

**Hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter of "Falling Snow." As always, thank you for reading!**

**-Mahina **


	13. The Time Winter Swore Like Mad

**A/N: I live! I know it's been a while, for which I apologize. That irritating "Life" thing went and got in the way again. Content warning: swearing. A **_**lot**_** of it, too. **

**[/]**

When she had first laid eyes on Jaune, wounded and in a hospital bed, it had been easy for Saphron to recognize her little brother. When he'd awakened, his rueful, "aw, shucks" brand of dorkiness intact, she had been glad to see that his friends - and apparent lover - had known and come to love his authentic self, and not the idiotic, macho persona that he'd been known to try and put on for strangers in the past. When he'd stood from the hospital bed and donned his familiar Pumpkin Pete hoodie and jeans, well, it was like he'd never left home. He was taller, certainly, and a bit less scrawny to boot, but all in all, Jaune was still undeniably her dorky baby brother.

Then came the armor.

While Jaune adjusted the straps on his gauntlets, the girl, Snow, closed a cuirass around his upper torso, latching it shut before moving on to fuss with his shoulder pauldron. The pair smoothly avoided getting in the other's way as they worked the armor, and moved in an easy familiarity with one another, one which spoke to this being a regular occurrence for them. Saph was no expert on armor, but even she could tell that the gleaming white steel and bronze pieces were of very high quality. But moreso even than the quality of his armor, the effect that wearing it had on her brother struck Saphron. Before he had gone to Beacon, she had helped her brother procure some very basic protective gear, and the end result was that Jaune had come off as more comically awkward than anything else. Like a little boy playing make-believe. Now, as he stood before her, Jaune appeared to not only bear the weight of his armor, but welcome it. He stood straighter, prouder even, as if his armor's weight had made him more… present.

Satisfied with his armor, Jaune reached out to a table and picked up Crocea Mors, drawing the blade from its sheath. The last time Saphron had seen their family's ancestral weapon, the old sword had been in rough shape, with a worn wrapping on the hilt, spots of tarnish on the crossguard, and even chips and notches along the edges, testimony to the hard use that it had seen over the ages. Now, in Jaune's hand, the sword gleamed as if freshly forged, with a core of Mistrali bronze running down the center. Jaune eyed the edge, then expanded the scabbard into a shield. Beyond cosmetic repairs, the shield now bore a secondary insignia, a gorgeous and elegant design of worked bronze on the bottom third of the shield's face, which extended into a wickedly-sharp rim along the edges of the shield.

Crocea Mors. The Yellow Death. The name had never seemed so appropriate to Saphron before that moment.

As Jaune sheathed his sword and collapsed the shield back into a scabbard, Snow handed him a gun belt, which he strapped to his thigh. He then picked up an almost comically-oversized handgun, one that matched the one that Snow wore at the small of her back. He slid the gun into its holster as Snow began affixing a baldric over his shoulder and across his torso. She stepped back before Jaune picked up the last of his weapons, a short, levered rifle. Saph wasn't a gun expert any more than she was an armorer, but to her untrained eye, it looked like that rifle was big enough to blast a Nevermore… which, she realized with a start, was probably exactly what it was designed to do.

Jaune double-checked that the safety was on, then gave the weapon a playful spin before sliding it into the back scabbard built into the baldric. As he stood there, fully armed and armored, coolly confident and at ease with his weapons, it hit Saphron that she could scarcely recognize this Jaune. She loved her baby brother, and anyone who claimed otherwise was in serious danger of catching those hands, but, well… when this group of young Huntsmen claimed that Jaune, _her_ Jaune, her silly, lazy, dorky little brother had not only joined their ranks but was accounted as a leader among them, she simply hadn't believed it. She thought at first that it was a prank. After they had all assured her that, no, her little brother truly did lead others into battle, she then had thought it an attempt by these well-meaning teenagers to humor him.

Only after seeing him, tall and proud and downright _heroic, _did Saphron truly believe that he commanded his teammates in life-or-death fights. For the first time, she could see how others could see him as strong, cunning, and reliable enough to entrust him with their lives. And then she saw him no more, as her vision swiftly became obscured and distorted by water.

"Huh?" Jaune looked over to see his sister staring at him, tears in her big blue eyes. "Saph? What's - whoa!"

Saphron snatched him up, crushing the poor guy in an embrace that reached Nora-like levels of squeeze. "Oh Jaune! I'm just so _proud_ of you! You really did it! You… you really became a Huntsman just like you always said you would..."

Jaune awkwardly patted his oldest sister on the back. "It's, uh… it's okay. There's no reason to cry about it."

"I wiped your butt when you were a baby," Saph scolded him, to the snickers of his friends. "I'm allowed to get all mushy and junk."

"Wait!" Snow interjected, eyes sparkling with the familiar glint of mischief. "Does this mean you have baby pictures?!"

Saphron's smile stretched from ear to ear.

Jaune groaned.

[/]

The rest of the team gave Jaune, Weiss, and Winter their space to discuss family issues with Saphron, the four taking their own table separate from the others at a local cafe.

"I'm afraid that my sister and I must make a confession," admitted Winter, catching Saph's attention.

"Hmm?"

"Ah," Weiss caught on. "You see… well, our names aren't actually Snow and Frost. We had to use aliases at the hospital."

"Aliases?" Saphron asked. "What, are you secret agents or something?"

Weiss sighed. "It's not that we wanted to deceive you or anything like that. It's just… well, my father wants me dead, and is willing to pay well for such an outcome. I've been hounded and attacked for months now, and keeping a low profile is safer… for everyone," she added glumly.

"Your own father is trying to kill you?" Saphron was horrified. "Why?"

"That's… a long story. But there is a _lot_ of wealth and power at stake, which my father intends to keep." Weiss looked around nervously, despite Winter having already staked out the place. She leaned in conspiratorially to Saphron across the table. "My real name," she said, her voice low and hushed, "is Weiss. Weiss Schnee."

She sat back in her seat to gauge her future sister-in-law's reaction. If there had, somehow, been any lingering doubt that Saphron was an Arc, the expression of pure, guileless confusion on her face would have put those to rest immediately. Saph blinked her deep blue eyes, so similar to her brother's, before quietly asking "And that means…?"

Weiss smiled a little as she heard her sister nearly choke on her drink. There was something that was somehow charming about the Arc obliviousness, at least when it came to this sort of thing. Since she had begun dating Jaune and learning more about him, the more foolish Weiss had felt about thinking that he was out for the wealth and influence of her name. The big dork had been infatuated with her before he even knew her name, let alone its implications.

"As in, the SDC," Weiss told Saphron, once again speaking lowly and softly.

"Oh, _those_ Schnees?" asked Saph, starting to catch on.

Beside her sister, Winter snorted. "Do you know of any others?"

"Well, I don't know!" Saphron defended herself. Then she canted her head as a thought occurred to her. "You know, your name is Old Mantle for 'White Snow', right?"

"Yes?" Weiss confirmed, unsure as to where the older woman was going with this line of questioning.

"Well, doesn't that make for a bad alias, if you just translated your name and rearranged it a little?"

The Schnee sisters shared a brief, puzzled look with one another before Winter returned to scanning the crowd, leaving her younger sister to field the question. "Well," the young fugitive began, "since the Great War and the practice of including colors in names, there are a great many young people with names similar to my alias. In fact, there was another Snow at the Vytal Festival, from Mistral. Blonde guy, liked trenchcoats and fistfighting. Oh, what was his last name… villain? Villager? Something like that," Weiss waved her hand in dismissal. "Then there was that one ranger that Winter was crushing on a few years back-"

"I was not!" Winter interjected. "It was merely a professional...evaluation!" she finished, having settled on a suitable euphemism. Saphron shared a conspiratorial smile with Weiss, encouraging the girl to continue.

"Uh-huh. That one was all dark and broody, right up her alley. 'Ooh, it's muh do'ey to be all cold en miserable'," Weiss imitated a rural Northern accent, causing Saphron to snort in amusement. "Come en keep meh warm, wit' muh long dark curly hair."

Winter sighed. "He _was_ really pretty," she conceded. "But Snow was his last name."

"The point is, there's no reason for someone to assume that some random person named Snow has anything to do with one of the wealthiest, most powerful families in the world," Weiss finished.

"Uh-huh," Saphron relented with a shrug, though it was clear she wasn't quite convinced. "If you say so."

Weiss was about to continue her argument when she saw Jaune returning to their table with a woman in tow, a tanned, dark-haired woman in her late twenties or early thirties… who carried a toddler in her arms.

"Hey, sweetie," Saphron stood to greet the newcomer with a quick kiss on the cheek as Jaune moved to stand next to Weiss. "And how's my favorite baby boy?" The boy in the woman's arms giggled happily as he reached out to her. "So, everyone, this is my wife, Terra, and our son, Adrian. And this is Jaune's fiancee, and her older sister."

As she and her sister made their greetings, Weiss tried to keep her impulse to squee under control. Jaune's little nephew was just so _cute!_ Her heart did a little flip as she saw the infant reach out to his uncle, who made silly faces for his nephew's amusement.

"So, would you care to come see our home?" offered Terra.

Weiss wanted to, almost more than anything else in the world. Almost anything. "I… I don't know that it's safe," she said quietly. "There are dangerous people after me, and the last thing that I want is to put such a lovely family at risk."

Saphron shared a look with her wife, and then with Winter. "If… if the bad guys find out that you're you and you're here… then that would mean that they know about you, right?" Weiss nodded, not seeing where the older woman was going. "And if they know that you're here, and they know your history, then that would mean that they would know that you and my baby brother are a thing, right? So… if they put all those pieces together, wouldn't it be better to have a small army of Huntsmen on hand? It'd be better to have you all there than not."

Weiss blinked in surprise, then looked to Winter. "Makes sense to me," the soldier said. "And if nothing else, it would be good for you to spend some time with your prospective future family members while you can."

"Well… if you think it's okay," Weiss relented.

"I'll go get the others, then," offered Jaune. A moment later, the rest of their friends had gathered around their table, each of the teenagers, in their own way, trying to tamp down on their excitement at meeting more of their friend's family. Especially a baby!

"Here, hold him for a bit," Terra suggested, handing the boy to his uncle. Weiss found her heart in her throat as she watched Jaune casually holding a toddler to introduce him to their friends. Watching her future husband holding a baby had her feeling... some kind of way. For his part, Adrian handled meeting so many strangers surprisingly well, considering his tender age. He especially seemed fascinated by Yang's prosthetic arm, which Yang obliged by clanking her fingertips together and turning the arm to catch the light at different angles.

"Uh-oh, I know that look," she heard from her side. Weiss turned to see Saphron regarding her with a cheeky grin. "Wistful longing mixed in with contemplation. Terra had the exact same look when she first started thinking about kids. I don't have to worry about protecting Jaune's virtue, do I?"

Weiss _really _didn't know how to answer that. Somehow she didn't think "I long to feel him sheathe himself within my wanton body once more" would really endear her to Jaune's family. Sensing her distress, Saphron gave her a little punch in the shoulder. "I was just kidding, lighten up!" The older woman then paused as a thought occurred to her. "He… didn't get you pregnant, did he?!"

"Uh…"

Apparently, Weiss's shocked expression gave her the wrong idea, as Saphron took her by the hand and led her away from the main group. "Okay," she began, her voice low and hushed, "I'm not judging or anything. We've all gone and done wild things when we're young. I just want you to know that you don't _have_ to marry Jaune if it's because of a pregnancy. While I'm glad I don't have to kick his ass for not taking responsibility, there's child support or other-"

"I can't get pregnant!" Weiss blurted out.

Saphron blinked. "What?"

Weiss looked to the floor. "I can't get pregnant. It's a medical thing." That wasn't _un_-true, though it wasn't the whole story either. It wasn't that Weiss thought that Jaune's sister would reject her, necessarily, so much as just wanting some modicum of privacy on the issue for once. Winter knew because she basically raised her. Her friends found out because that one idiot outed her against her will. For Weiss, having someone in her life who she could decide when, or even _if_ to tell her was a notion that she found herself clinging to. Was just a little control over it really so much to ask for?

Once again, Saphron saw the look on the younger girl's face and drew the wrong conclusion. "Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry!" Weiss felt the woman pull her into a hug. Before she could respond, the pair heard Terra clear her throat from beside them.

"Saphron, honey, really? You just met the poor thing, and she's already in tears? Remember that part about not threatening your siblings' dates?"

Saphron paled. "Uh, it's not like that, honest."

Terra rolled her eyes. "Don't let Saph scare you," the woman in the blue sweater told Weiss. "She's all talk. She's not really going to gouge your eyes out for looking at her precious baby brother."

"I only said that that one time, and that hussy had it coming!" Saphron protested.

Weiss covered her giggle with her hand. "It's okay, Miss Terra, really. Miss Saphron just had a misunderstanding."

"Oh wow, 'Miss Saphron?'" the woman in question echoed with a grimace. "Way to make me feel old, little sister."

"Well, we're not getting any younger either," added Terra, who nestled against Saphron's side with a contented grunt.

"Still not that old," her wife continued to grumble. "But Weiss just had The Look, and I kinda went a little overboard."

As they spoke, they spied Jaune demonstrating how to hold a toddler to Ren, who handled the boy with the same delicate care as one would an unstable explosive. And speaking of unstable explosives, Nora had gone very quiet as she watched him, eyes soft and her gaze contemplative.

"Is that how I was looking at Jaune?" Weiss asked Saphron.

"Yep," she confirmed. "You could practically see the hearts in your eyes. I take it those two are a couple?"

"Yes, they've been together for as long as either can remember," Weiss said with a shrug, "though they've only recently become 'together-together' as they call it."

The three women then laughed as Ren held out Adrian to Winter, whose eyes were wide as saucers as she very awkwardly took the boy. "Erm… hello, half-finished human… child...person," the soldier said. Adrian stared up at Winter, who tried, and failed, to look like anything other than the stern warrior that she was. The infant immediately burst into tears.

"How do I turn it off?!" Winter cried, half-panicked.

"I'll go to the rescue," sighed Terra, who returned to the main group, much to Winter's great relief.

Saphron chuckled at the scene before turning an earnest expression towards Weiss. "But anyways, I'm sorry about before."

"There's no need," Weiss attempted to demure, but to no avail.

"You're still young yet, so there's plenty of time to think of your options," Saphron continued. "There's always orphans who will need a good home. Or you could try other options?" Here, Saphron's expression turned to mischief. "I mean, you've got a sister, and I'm sure Jaune could-"

"Oh my gosh, no!" Weiss cried out, entirely too loudly. In a flash, Winter, Terra and Jaune were at her side.

"What's wrong?" Winter asked, her hand on the hilt of her saber.

Weiss pointed a shaky finger at Jaune. "Under no circumstances are you to sleep with my sister, understood?"

Winter made a strangled gasping sound, while Jaune and Terra shared a look. "What did you do?" they both asked Saphron in unison.

"Nothing!" she protested, though her nervous rubbing of her shoulder and downcast gaze did little for her believability. "I just brought up the possibility of surrogacy, is all."

"Oh," Winter shifted uncomfortably.

"Probably not a conversation for people who've only _just met_," Terra said pointedly, causing her troublemaking wife to shift a bit under the scrutiny. "And besides, surrogacy like that doesn't involve… what you were thinking of," she added for Weiss's benefit.

"Ah. Well." Weiss coughed into her hand as an awkward silence fell across the group.

"Awkward subject change: let's go show you our place!" Saphron said brightly.

"Please do," agreed Weiss.

[/]

The plan was simple: the Huntsmen team would rest and recuperate overnight at the Cotta-Arc household before striking out for the nearby Atlas military base in the morning. That evening, Ren and Nora were assisting Terra with preparing a large dinner, while Yang played with little Adrian, much to Blake's bemusement. Winter allowed herself a smile as she watched her little sister eagerly taking in all the embarrassing stories and photos about her dorky betrothed that Saphron Arc had to share. Said dork was alternating between trying to disappear into the thick cushions of the couch on which they sat and playing along by posing with comedic exaggeration at his sister's tales. Winter was willing to admit that the photo of the Arc family, with a child Jaune seated in a large chair, surrounded by his many sisters, hair pulled askew into crude tails, and bearing a sign asking for help in the manner of a hostage, was actually fairly amusing.

The Arc family, Jaune very much included, seemed very… well, for lack of a better term, very "normal." It seemed somewhat incongruous to Winter that an ordinary young man like Jaune had, in the time she had observed him, done some rather extraordinary feats. In contrast, Weiss had been brought up with very high expectations demanded of her, expectations that Winter was proud to note that Weiss had either met or, more often, exceeded. But… perhaps that air of earnest simplicity was exactly what her little sister had needed. The Schnee family could hardly be adjudged a family at all, and Weiss appeared to be basking in the atmosphere of the Arc family like a flower starved of sunlight.

Winter gave a mental sigh. While she herself had never been one to linger on such domestic concerns, if, after a few years of marriage, her little sister were to ask it of her… well, it would be nice to see the Schnee bloodline continue and not rest in the hands of Whitley, gods help them all. The stresses and rigors of carrying and delivering a child were significant, but if it were important enough to Weiss, Winter would do it for her, without hesitation. Her little sister would make a wonderful mother, far better than their own.

Speaking of worthless drunks, where had Qrow slunk off to? Winter realized that the Ruby girl was missing as well. She pushed off away from the wall she had been leaning against and quietly stepped into the kitchen. "Excuse me," she asked Terra, as the other woman chopped vegetables. "Have you seen Qrow? The older Huntsman," she added for clarity.

"Oh, his... daughter, I think, took him into the cellar to rest. Something about Aura exhaustion from all the fighting you've had to do."

Aura exhaustion, was it? Well, Winter wasn't about to begrudge the girl saving her uncle some face, though how he'd managed to get drunk without finding a bar or a liquor store to replenish his supplies was _quite_ the feat.

"Thank you," she told Terra. "If anyone asks, I've gone to check on them."

Terra nodded. "Excuse me, Miss Schnee?"

"Hmm?"

"I know you're all leaving tomorrow, so if I don't get the chance… thank you. You and all the Huntsmen and Huntresses, for all that you do for regular people like us."

Winter blinked in surprise. Oh, she'd heard public figures and propagandists blather on and on about what great heroes they were meant to be, but hearing plain, sincere gratitude from someone who stood to gain nothing from the gesture was a novel experience. A slight hint of a smile graced the soldier's lips.

"Ma'am, protecting good people like your family is both a duty and a pleasure." With a final nod, Winter left to go find the cellar. She carefully descended the stairway, stopping at the bottom when she heard voices.

"Are you sure, Uncle Qrow? I mean, you look bad."

"Yeah, but it needs to be done." Qrow's voice sounded strangely weak, as if he were struggling to catch his breath at high altitude. And was that quavering she detected? "I've been letting you down for too long."

Winter peered around the corner. Qrow was laying on a couch in the dark basement, looking haggard and sweaty. Ruby offered him his flask, but he reached out and pushed it back toward her. "Uncle Qrow, if it'll help," Ruby began.

"No, kid. Ain't nothin' for it, but to tough it out."

As Winter watched the pair, she felt a pang in her chest. Her mother had just gone and drank her life away, while Qrow was at least beginning to fight his addiction. But then, he wasn't alone like she had been, was he? It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. Winter had just been a teenage girl, she shouldn't have had to have known how to help a grown woman, her own mother, out of the thrall of alcoholism and despair. But here was Ruby Rose, even younger than she had been, putting her to shame with her compassion and maturity.

Her mother was dead. She had known it for weeks, and had emotionally prepared for the eventuality for years, but in that moment, the full weight of that fact struck Winter like a Nuckleevee hoof to the chest. Her hand flew to her mouth and she slowly sank to the ground, tears welling in her eyes. Her mother was dead, and Winter hadn't lifted a finger to stop it. The woman had been insensate for years, and Winter had been too absorbed in her own ambitions to even begin to help. She had abandoned her just as much as she'd abandoned Whitley.

She racked with silent sobs, not wanting either Qrow or Ruby to see her so consumed in her grief, regret and self-loathing. After a few long moments, her shaking ceased, and Winter began to calm her breathing and slowly stood. What was done was done. All that she could do now was to see to the people that were still here. Ruby's silver eyes widened as Winter turned the corner and began to approach them.

"Miss Winter? What are you - are you okay?" Ruby asked as she noticed the tears in Winter's reddened eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine, Miss Rose," Winter said, dabbing at her face with a handkerchief. She frowned at the small white cloth. "Miss Rose, would you be so good as to fetch a washcloth and a basin of water for your uncle? I can take over from here."

"...You're not going to stab him, are you?" Ruby asked suspiciously.

Winter chuckled. "No, I'm not going to stab him."

That convinced the young girl that her uncle's life wasn't in immediate jeopardy, though she still cast a concerned glance back to the two of them as she made her way up the stairs.

For his part, Qrow looked abashed, unable to look Winter in the eye as she unceremoniously manhandled him to rest his head upon her lap. A thin sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead.

"Look, Winter, I-"

"No." Her tone was calm and collected, but as forceful and irresistible as a tidal wave.

"What?"

"I don't want to hear it. You fucked up, Qrow. You know it. I know it. Hell, even the _children_ know it. You can't take back what you did, or what you said, and there's no excuse that you could offer."

Qrow sighed. "Then why are you here? I don't deserve your help."

"No, you don't," she agreed. "You also don't deserve a niece like Ruby Rose, yet there she is, bearing a burden she never should have had to."

Qrow's hand was trembling violently from the alcohol withdrawal when her slender, gloved hand closed around it. The shaking stopped in her firm grasp. His red eyes met her ice blue gaze. "I'm here for the same reason she is," she began, haltingly, as if she could scarce believe what she was about to say. "Because we don't choose who we love."

Well, after all those years of bickering, and she'd finally found something to say to shut him up good and proper. The silence stretched out as she held his trembling under control, before…

"I got the water!" Ruby piped up, grinning from ear to ear. Winter coughed, a faint dusting of blush spreading across her face. She'd forgotten just how quick the girl was.

"Er, yes, if you could just place that on the table. You should go join your friends upstairs," she directed. "Make sure to give that flask to your sister for safekeeping. And… if you could let my sister know that I'll be busy for the evening, I would appreciate it," she said, embarrassed.

"Sure thing, Auntie Winter!" Ruby chirped happily before moving to leave. She paused at the door and fixed her uncle with a sudden, intense stare. "Don't screw this up," she warned gravely. Then, just as soon as it had come, her mood passed, and the young girl was cheerily running up the stairs once more.

"And the trend of the women in my life scaring the shit out of me continues," Qrow remarked. He sighed as he felt the cool, damp cloth against his forehead. "But seriously, you… you can't really mean what you said."

"It wouldn't have hurt so much if I didn't."

That was all she said on the matter. All she needed to, really.

"I'm sorry," he finally said.

"Don't be sorry. Be _better. _There won't be a third chance."

[/]

Jaune smiled as he watched Ruby and Weiss chatting excitedly in a corner. Something had those two riled up. He shared a glance with Ren, who merely shrugged. The ways of women were inscrutable and beyond their ken. Jaune swayed a little as his sister bumped into his side with easy familiarity.

"No fair," she pouted. "I used to be able to knock you over with the shoulder bumps."

"I have grown beyond your paltry roughhousing, wicked sister! Fear the mighty Huntsman!"

"You're still a dork."

"Yeah, Weiss is still working on that," he said wryly.

"Pfft, no force on Remnant is gonna change that." Saphron then adopted a more serious, thoughtful expression. "Are you happy, baby brother?"

Jaune looked out over his assorted friends and family. The teens waved goodnight to Adrian, who had fallen asleep and was being carried to his room by Terra. Jaune's gaze fell back onto his fiancee, where it almost always lingered when it could. "You know… I am. We've lost friends, and our home, but… with as much as we've lost, Weiss showed me how to appreciate what I still have. I can see a future now, a real future, and she's the center of mine."

"Then I'm happy for you, Jaune." She smirked up at him. "And _of course_ you just had to find the prettiest princess in all the land to go woo."

Jaune shrugged. She had him there.

"You need to talk to Mom and Dad," Saphron told him. "They're worried sick about you. They're going to want to know about all your adventures, and…"

He sighed. "We have a mission. An important one. I don't know when I'll be able to call or see them, but… I'll write a letter. Tonight. You'll give it to them when they visit next, right?"

"Sure thing." She frowned as she saw Weiss absent-mindedly rubbing her calves. "Jaune, that girl marched through the woods to find you and drag you back, right?"

Jaune scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Uh, yeah?"

Saphron smacked him upside the head. "Then go offer to massage her feet, you doof! Honestly, have I taught you _nothing_ about how to treat a lady?!"

"Yow! Okay, I'm going!"

She smiled as her brother made his way over to his fiancee. Her future little sister _so_ owed her one.

[/]

They gathered outside the Cotta-Arc household in the wan light of the morning. Qrow was still a little pale, but he was able to keep the shaking under control, and the pounding in his head had died down to just a brutal throbbing ache. He _almost_ looked like himself. He turned as he heard the telltale clicking of one of the Schnee sisters approaching. Well, looked like mini Ice Queen had something to-

The air was driven out of his lungs as the small girl drove her tiny fist deep into his gut. Taken entirely by surprise, he fell to his knees, suddenly grateful that he'd skipped out on breakfast that morning.

"That's for making my sister cry, you jerk!" Weiss shouted at him, before turning crisply on her heel.

"I wasn't crying!" Winter lied outrageously. It didn't escape Qrow's notice that neither of his nieces, nor the woman who claimed to be in love with him, protested the little brat's assault on his person.

"Okay… probably had that coming," he wheezed.

Weiss approached Saphron and Terra, changing her expression seamlessly into a picture of perfect deportment. "Thank you for inviting us into your home," she said with a graceful curtsey.

Saphron leaned over to her brother. "Jaune, you _need_ to marry this girl!" she stage-whispered.

"I already asked her to!"

"Well, marry her faster!"

Weiss had been made to put on many smiles for many people in her time, but for her future sister-in-law, her smile was as sincere as it was dazzling. "I look forward to spending more time with you and the rest of the Arc family in the future."

"Aww, c'mere!"

Weiss squawked and flailed her arms in a Ruby-like fashion as Saphron abruptly pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. "You're just adorable!" the older woman said at her disheveled appearance. Then she looked over to Winter. "Hey, keep this one safe, yeah?"

"I always do."

Jaune was next to face the power of the Saphron hug, though his armor mitigated its effects somewhat.

"You have to squeeze the floating rib," Weiss advised, instructions that Saphron put to work immediately.

"Weiss, why?!" Jaune cried out in mock betrayal.

"Oh, you are _so doomed_," his sister laughed as she let him go. "Stay safe, little brother."

[/]

"This is a relatively small-sized base, so we can expect its commander to be an officer of some moderate distinction," Winter told the group as they approached the base. "No doubt assigned to a young up-and-comer who is being entrusted with their first real command. Expect to see ambition tempered with professionalism. Unsurprisingly, they will see aiding a Specialist in her vital mission as a potential career booster, leverage that we can use to our favor."

That was what Winter had expected, anyway. What she got was…

"Why for all the broken moon should I believe that _you_ are a Specialist?! The _glorious_ Kingdom of Atlas recruits only the greatest of soldiers into the august ranks of the Special Operatives, soldiers such as my own self!"

Silence reigned in the entrance of the Atlas base for a beat before, in unison, all of the Huntsmen and Huntresses turned to look at Winter for some kind of explanation for what they were seeing. For once, Winter had no answer as to what this diminutive, elderly blowhard was doing as part of the Atlesian Special Forces, let alone commanding a base, of any size.

Winter took a deep breath. "My name is Special Operative Winter Schnee, and I-"

"Preposterous! Winter Schnee flies about in her own airship, reporting to the _illustrious_ General _James Ironwood_ himself!" Winter decided that there wasn't enough bleach in the world to wash out the stain that this crone's arduous exaltation of her boss and mentor's name had left on her brain. "She certainly doesn't march up to an Atlas base, _on foot_. Let alone with such an… _entourage_." The hag's nose scrunched in distaste as she surveyed the rest of the group. "I mean, honestly, you expect me to believe that this collection of vagabonds, delinquents, and other…" she openly sneered as she saw Blake's Faunus ears, "_disreputable_ sorts travel with _the_ Winter Schnee?"

Winter tried hard to keep her hand away from her saber's hilt. "Yes, because _I'm_ Winter Schnee! Look, I have the ID!" She held up her badge and picture ID. "My airship was destroyed en route, and I made my way on foot!"

Cordovin sniffed. "A well-made forgery. As if the _real_ Winter Schnee would ever be so _incompetent_ as to allow her airship to be destroyed."

Qrow took a step back as he saw the vein pulsing on Winter's forehead. Without a word, she threw a hand up in the air, instantly forming a summoning glyph that deposited an ice Beowulf by her side. "There. Schnee Semblance. Now step aside, fool."

Cordovin sniffed. "A convincing display, but little more than sleight-of-hand."

"What."

"A simple trick, easily accomplished with mirrors and lights."

"I could have this construct literally tear you apart where you stand."

Cordovin sniffed again. "Yes, well, as diverting as this has been, I am a busy woman. Guarding the ingrate masses of a lesser kingdom is hard work, as any _real_ Specialist could tell you. But if you need employment, I'm sure there is a house of ill-repute in this filthy hovel, one that could use a woman of your no-doubt _prodigious_ experience."

Raw Dust, when mined, can be an extraordinarily volatile material, one requiring great care and precision to safely extract. When something goes wrong in the process, a Dust explosion can create a cataclysmic chain reaction that devastates anything in its path. While survivors are few and far between, a small number of hardy mining folk witnessed the beginning of such a chain reaction, yet lived to tell the tale. What all of those stories had in common was the noting of a specific moment between when the first Dust shard went up and when the chain reaction began, a long, terrible moment where it was too late to stop it, and all too clear that all Hell was going to break loose.

After hearing this strange Atlas commander essentially call Winter Schnee a prostitute, Qrow now knew how those miners felt.

Winter's face was bright red in pure fury. "You miserable, washed-up, _ludicrous _little _bitch!_" she roared. "I have your name! _I have your ass! _By the time I'm through with you, you'll be _begging_ me for the _privilege_ of latrine duty! I swear to every god that ever was, if you do not make way for me and my party, _right the fuck now_, I will shove my foot so far up your ass that you'll be _tasting nothing but boot leather for years! _I will tear your head off and shit down your neck, you withered old mutant!_"_

The kids stared at Winter in pure shock. Qrow was pretty sure that that was the hottest thing he'd ever seen. Cordovin merely shrugged and slammed the gates shut.

"Cordovin! Cordovin, you ignorant slut, you get back here!"

Jaune pulled out his Scroll and made a call as Winter continued to rant. "Yeah, hey sis-"

"-you dehydrated stack of shit!"

"So… we kinda hit a snag-"

"Cock_mongering_ little homunculus!"

"-annnd we may need to stay a little longer than we thought. At least one day-"

"- with a godsdamned _spoon_, do you hear me?!"

"Maaaaybe two. Yeah, of course I'll pitch in for the food. Okay, bye." With that, he hung up and trotted over to Weiss, who had quietly been filming the entire exchange on her own Scroll.

"You okay?" he asked her.

"This is all very serious business," Weiss began.

"Fate of the world," added Jaune.

"But this is _amazing," _Weiss finished, bursting out laughing as she watched her sister gesticulate and hurl curses and invective at the now-absent Atlas commander.

"Mother_fucker!" _Winter punted a can, sending it sailing into the distance.

"My cashews!" The extremely irate Specialist turned around to see a little old lady standing behind her. She leaned on a cane, and regarded the older Schnee sister with large, illuminated goggles, likely ocular prosthetics.

"That's quite the mouth on you, young lady," the senior woman admonished.

Winter's fury dissipated in an instant as she realized that she'd said all of those _horrible_ things in public! And worse, she'd said them in front of her little sister! She looked over to see Weiss waving her way, grinning her diabolical little grin and holding her Scroll in the filming position.

Whelp.

Winter cleared her throat and stood straight. "I apologize that you had to hear that, citizen. Can I help you?"

The little old lady cackled. "Well, for one thing, you can replace those cashews you just sent flying over yonder," she said, pointing out the direction with her skull-topped cane.

"Of course," Winter flushed with embarrassment.

"But for another thing… you sound like someone who's just met Cordovin for the first time."

"Ahem… please do not let certain _sub-standard_ officers color your perception of the Atlas military, ma'am."

"If you didn't want people judging your uniform by people like her, maybe you should see to it that such people never get to put it on in the first place, hmm?"

Well, Winter had no answer for that one. The old woman smiled up at her.

"But… how would you like to help an old lady get even?"

**[/]**

**Chapter Endnotes: Hoo-boy, where to start? I guess I'll work my way backwards.**

**The instant Cordovin was introduced, I wanted to see how Winter would react to her. So **_**of course**_** I had to make her outrageously unreasonable. Those are the rules, yo. While Winter's got quite the temper, I don't see her actually murdering another Atlas soldier without damn good cause. Of course, part of Weiss getting to know the real Winter is seeing her sister's flaws and quirks. And filming them for laughs, because sisters. While my suspension of disbelief can handle flying ships and magical maidens, I refuse to believe that there is **_**any**_** world in which career soldiers are not possessed of the ability to swear in spectacular fashion. **

**Winter is hard on herself over what happened to her mother. She likes to pretend that she's all ice, but from what we've seen, she's a deeply emotional person. She's also still very angry with Qrow, but she's come to terms with the fact that he's become important to her, and Winter isn't the sort to make the same mistake twice. And for his part, the hurt and disappointment that he saw that he put Winter through galvanized Qrow to start to clean up earlier than canon, so maybe she's not the only one starting to get the mushy-mush feelings.**

**Saphron's discussions with Weiss are full of misconceptions, mostly because Weiss didn't come out straight away. I'm usually pretty open about being transgender because I'm openly discussing my experiences and perceptions, which… kinda necessitates coming out. I would prefer not to for most people, as it's not really any of their business. In contrast to her alias, her being transgender isn't all that important to how she relates to Saphron; Weiss is a young woman who is deeply in love with Saph's little brother, and is engaged to marry him, but don't expect babies out of her. That's it, really. In time, she may decide to open up about it, but much like the surrogacy thing, that's not the sort of discussion one normally has when just feeling out someone new, you know?**

**I actually debated heavily how I wanted to play this out. One reader actually made a suggestion that I have either Terra or Saphron be transgender - Saphron would have made more sense in this scenario - and have that explain how Jaune is so cool with a trans girl. While I wanted to introduce an older transgender woman mentor for Weiss, I ultimately decided against it on the grounds that it felt like I was providing an explanation for a fact that didn't need explaining, namely Jaune's acceptance of Weiss. You don't need to have a transgender person in your family or circle of friends to accept them as they are. Mind you, I don't think that that's what the reader meant to imply with his suggestion, but it was still something that I tangled with. Alternatively, given that you can't always tell if someone is transgender, you could suppose that both Weiss **_**and **_**Saphron are trans, and only Jaune knows that.**

**When I finish "Falling Snow," I'll make a separate entry for more omakes and deleted scenes, and transbian!Saphron is definitely going to be one of them. **

**Life was also a reason for the delay. I nabbed me a boyfriend! Poor bastard. There's also been job hunts, volunteer work, my mom fell and broke her collarbone, just all manner of craziness. Alternatively, I could claim that Jaune's Volume 7 haircut is **_**so bad**_** that it destroyed all creativity for months. That's not what happened, but it's funnier if I say that it is, so that's the excuse that I'm going with: Jaune's terrible haircut is to blame for the long delay in "Falling Snow!" Boo that haircut! Boo!**

**See you for the next chapter!**

**-Mahina **


	14. The Argus Wives' Conspiracy

**A/N: Annnnd we're back. **

**[/]**

As an elite Specialist of the Atlesian Armed Forces, Winter Schnee had always prided herself on being able to fulfill her mission, no matter the obstacle in her way. The last obstacle that she had ever expected to face, however, was the sheer staggering incompetence of one of her fellow Atlesian officers, an incompetence only exacerbated by the diminutive woman's intractable stubbornness. Winter fumed quietly as the troupe, now with the addition of one old woman who claimed to have "ideas", made its way back to Arc's sisters' place. Weiss cheerily stepped by her sister's side as they walked down the snowy avenues of Argus.

Winter's sister, her pride and joy, the light of her life, was very much _not helping _her bad mood, giggling as she cheerfully replayed the video of the incident on her Scroll. "Such _language_, sister!" the little cretin admonished, scandalized eyes wide with faux-innocence. Winter wasn't fooled for a moment; she'd heard her sister's friends whispering about her nocturnal exploits with Arc. Her sister was far more worldly than she let on. The soldier tried hard to keep her growing headache under control as Weiss just.

Kept.

_Talking!_

Make no mistake, Winter loved Weiss dearly. She would _kill_ on her behalf, and had. But with that being said, she just couldn't help wondering just how lenient her orders to present Weiss "alive and unharmed" could be as it pertained to, say, throwing the brat off a cliff. She had Aura and summons, she'd be _fine_. Weiss had fallen from a much greater height, after all. And look, there was water and everything at the bottom! A little unscheduled swim would shut the girl up something proper, and if Arc complained about it, she could toss him off a cliff too.

Friggin' _romance_.

"How exactly does one… _monger_ for that particular commodity?" Weiss continued analyzing her earlier outburst in excruciating detail. "Is that how you met Qrow?" she gasped.

"Silence, you boob!" Without thinking, Winter lashed out and slapped her sister upside the head. The two sisters came to an abrupt halt and stared at each other, eyes wide in mutual shock. Oh, Winter had struck her sister before, clouting her with the hilt of her sword, punching her, throwing her to the ground, playing fetch with Beowulves… but those had all been training exercises. Never before had she lashed out at Weiss out of anger. The younger woman wasn't physically hurt, of course, but the emotion behind the act…

Winter struggled to form an apology, her voice catching in her throat. Before she could work it out, Ruby Rose caught up to them. The young redheaded girl chuckled as she rubbed the spot on Weiss's head that Winter had slapped. "Heh. Boob." With that, she swept up Weiss and the two carried on, the white-haired girl much more subdued.

"Hey, you all right?" Qrow's raspy voice sounded wearier than normal, the strain of withdrawal making itself known.

"I…" Winter shook her head. "I _cannot_ believe I just did that."

"What, smacking the princess? That can't have been the first time."

"But it was!" Winter wailed. "I'm the worst sister in the world."

Qrow rolled his eyes at her dramatics as he walked with her. The Ice Queen and her baby sister had more in common than they thought. "If I had a lien for every time Yang and Ruby had at each other, I could retire early. Smacking each other, slapping each other, pulling hair… and that was _before_ Semblances came into it."

"What? But they seem so close…"

"They _are_ so close," Qrow said. "And sometimes, siblings fight. Becoming closer means the two of you are gonna have to learn to read each other's moods." He chuckled. "Why do you think I've been so damn quiet this morning? Never expected you to lay into that officer woman the way you did."

She shook her head. "You don't _understand_. Ruby and Yang grew up in a normal family… or normal enough, at any rate," she added upon seeing Qrow's skeptical expression. "With Weiss and I… our mother was absent _at best_, and Father…" Winter's shoulders slumped. "He was quick to criticize. _Harshly_. While his words were cutting enough, they would, from time to time, be accompanied by more physical rebukes. I learned how to use makeup to hide the bruises before I was ten years old. I couldn't present anything less than perfection to the outside world."

Qrow forced himself to remain silent as he struggled to keep his own temper under control. He had a very good understanding of how it was that a fairly significant portion of the world's population wanted Jacques Schnee dead. As it was, his Semblance flared wildly. Store display windows shattered as they passed, a few pipes burst in nearby buildings, and one random passerby had his jacket ignite a small fire on the hem.

"I tried to shield Weiss from the worst of it the best that I could," Winter continued, blissfully ignorant to the havoc that just broke out behind them. "She doesn't need to know how many beatings I took in her stead, especially when it became apparent that she was never going to be the perfect firstborn son that he demanded."

That broke Qrow out of his growing anger. "Son?" He asked, his expression genuinely puzzled.

Winter cocked an eyebrow. "I already told Weiss is… you never looked up what 'transgender' means, did you?" The soldier's expression went flat at the realization.

"Uh…"

"Weiss was born a boy, you dolt," Winter explained in a low tone. Qrow, the dim bulb over his head flickering as it struggled to light, looked ahead to where the girl in question was speaking with her friends.

"... Really?"

"Yes. Really." Winter rolled her eyes.

Qrow still seemed skeptical. "You sure?"

"Oh, for crying out loud, yes! Just… keep it to yourself, Qrow. The only reason I told you is because it's important to explain why our father wants her dead. Beyond that, she is every bit the young woman that you've seen."

"...Huh. How'd you pull off hiding _that_ from the old man?"

"It wasn't easy. I ended up taking custody of Weiss, explaining it as her needing treatment for a behavioral disorder. I think that Jacques intended to disinherit her right then and there. But… I could protect Weiss, but only by giving up on Whitley. I abandoned him to save her. And even then, when I grew older and started… _developing_, the punishments became charged, more humiliating. He… he started looking at me in a way no father should look at his daughter. I lost my nerve, and ran to the military as soon as I could. In the end, I abandoned them both, just like our mother."

Qrow put his arm around her. "Hey, look, you were just a kid. No big sister should have to try and figure out how to protect her siblings from their own parents, especially when she's at risk herself. It isn't your fault"

Winter reached up and dabbed a tear from her eye. She stared at the damp spot on a glove, finding her hand curling into a fist on its own accord. "For so long, it was just me against the world, with Weiss needing me. She's my sister, but I'm the one who raised her. Me. I take pride in her accomplishments. Her joy is my joy. Gods, if that Arc boy hadn't been able to save her at Haven, I don't know what I would have done. I did everything save for birthing her from my own body. She's more a daughter than a sister to me, and how do I treat her? I slap her around, just like our father would have."

"Hey!" Qrow came to a halt, his hands gripping Winter firmly on the shoulders. "You are _not_ like your father. I doubt Old Man Schnee ever gave more'n a second's thought about how he treats his kids, the piece 'a shit. He certainly wouldn't have gone through a moral crisis over smacking her upside the head once in her entire life." He saw her look forlornly down and to the side. "You lost your temper. It happens. Hell, given everything you told me today, I'm shocked you don't lose it more often. All that means is that you need to be aware of it so you can fix it."

Winter crossed her arms as they arrived outside the Arc estate, contemplating her actions. She had been having trouble keeping her emotions in check that entire morning. She'd never really considered herself to be an emotional person before - there was a reason that everyone naturally gravitated towards calling her Ice Queen - but clearly, she needed to do some work to recognize and compensate for such innate characteristics.

"...Thank you, Qrow." She looked at him as he released her from his grip.

"Anytime, Snowbird. Just give yourself some time to cool down and then go talk to the princess. I'm sure she'll want to apologize too, probably more than you. It'll be fine."

"Well," she coughed. "Just so long as Arc doesn't get the idea that _he_ can strike her as well. The first time he does is the last time he'll have hands."

"Unless she's into that sort of thing," Qrow offered with a smirk.

Winter pulled a face of disgust. "_Why_ did you have to bring that up?"

"Because I'm a puckish and lovable rogue?"

"You're an ass, is what you are," she said, but it lacked heat. Qrow reached over to her, tentatively at first, and when she failed to snap at him, he put an arm around her shoulder to pull her into a hug. Winter thought that she really should put a stop to it, but another part of her remembered what Weiss had told her about her own relationship. When one was weak, the other was strong. That part of her wondered if it would really be so bad if she could indulge in just a little weakness, just as a test.

She let herself be lost in the warmth of his embrace. Qrow was lean, but solid and dense as she wrapped her arms around him. The stubble on his face scritched when she nuzzled against him. When Remnant failed to implode, she decided to allow herself just a little more time to -

"Wow. One punch in the morning, and they're a loving couple by lunchtime. Weiss, can we borrow you for a bit? Jaune and I have a little sister whose having some boy problems."

Upon hearing the Arc woman's observation from the porch, Winter gasped, let go of Qrow, and stepped back so quickly that she almost fell. She felt Qrow's calloused hand grip hers tight, holding her upright. He shot her a cheeky little wink, which was, of course, the exact moment that his Semblance chose to kick in. Qrow slipped, falling ass-over-teakettle. This, of course, sent Winter to the ground as well, and they both ended up in an undignified heap in front of the Arc wives' house.

Winter heard a slight tapping from the little old woman's cane as she stepped over to her, peering at the pair of them on the ground with her goggles making a slight mechanical whir.

"This is what passes for professional Huntsmen these days, hmm? It's a wonder we've yet to be devoured by the Grimm!" She punctuated her observation by jabbing Qrow in the leg with her cane. "Do get up, will you?" She then gave a wave towards the Cotta-Arc couple. "Hello, dearies. I take it you know these people?"

Saphron snatched up Jaune under his arms, being deterred neither by his yelp of protest nor by the fact that he was quite a good deal larger than her. She smiled widely as she held him up and forwards, presenting him in much the same manner as a child showing off a favorite puppy. "Hi, Miss Calavera! This is my little brother!"

The old woman chuckled. "Of course he is. Now, would you be so kind as to invite me inside? These old bones of mine are frozen stiff!"

[/]

"So…" Winter began as they had all assembled in the living room. "You mean to tell me that the state of the Atlas base at Argus has deteriorated to such a state that random civilians have been plotting the removal of its commander?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Terra admitted sheepishly.

Winter pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. "And you've not lodged a complaint through official channels because…?"

Saphron snorted in amusement. "Heh, 'official channels'. That's adorable. You think General Ironwood has time to listen to us? Between the CCT going down and the border being closed, we couldn't send a message even if we thought he _would._"

Winter crossed her arms. "I'm sure the general is doing all he can."

Saphron just waved her off. "Yeah, sure, but that doesn't change the fact that our lives are in the hands of a human divot. So me, Terra, Miss Calavera, and a few like-minded individuals are looking to get her ousted."

"About that," Jaune asked, leaning against a wall. "How exactly were you planning on running this?"

His big sister rolled her eyes at him. "C'mon, I taught you better than this. Our plans changed the minute you told us Cordovin wasn't going to just let you guys through. What do we have now that we didn't have before?"

"Well, us, of course."

"And we need you because…"

"Because the General will listen to us," Jaune finished. "Or more specifically, her," he corrected, pointing at Winter.

"And if she can't go through 'official means'," Saphron led him on, making exaggerated finger quotes that had Winter straining to keep from grinding her teeth.

"Then we need to get her there unofficially. That means, we just need to steal an Atlas airship and fly there directly!"

"Ta-daa!" Saphron held out her hand to high-five her brother. Winter looked back and forth between the two siblings, appalled.

"I can't believe you're teaching your younger brother to break the law!" She finally sputtered.

"Don't be silly," Saphron admonished the Atlesian woman. "I've _already_ taught him how to break the law. More importantly, I've taught him when and _why_ he may need to break it."

"But why, though?"

"Well, sometimes you need to be a little shifty to get things done. I'll have you know, I used to be a damn fine thief, con artist, and general ne'er-do-well."

"Than how is it that I have never heard of you before now?"

Saphron rolled her eyes. "Because unlike that idiot Torchwick, _I'm_ actually good at it. He was just a thug with a hat, no appreciation for the true artistry of bad behavior." Saphron shrugged. "Since meeting my lovey Terra, though, I've settled down. She's got me on the straight and narrow. Well, the narrow, anyway," she said with an exaggerated wink. "Last job I did before this one was helping Jaune with some forged entry papers to Beacon. Been legit ever since."

Winter's jaw dropped. "I… I don't even know where to start with this. Weiss, did you know about this?"

Weiss shrugged, sheepishly. "About the con artist stuff or the Jaune's transcript stuff? Because the answer is yes to both."

Winter's eye twitched dangerously as she rounded on her sister's fiancee. "And you!" Winter pointed an accusing finger at Jaune.

"Me?" He asked, pointing to himself, the very picture of innocence.

"How do I know that anything about you is real? Why would you even need to fake an entry into Beacon anyway? Your skills are sufficient, and your Semblance an extraordinary asset."

Jaune coughed awkwardly. "Well, I, uh… kinda didn't have any training before Beacon. At all."

"Don't lie to me," Winter said dangerously. "I've seen you in action, and you hold your own amongst some of the greatest students of your generation."

Whatever response Winter had been expecting, it wasn't for a round of amused and awkward snickers. "You obviously never saw Vomit Boy fight back at Beacon," Yang offered. "He never won a single match in combat class. It was an open question as to what was gonna kill him first, the class or Miss Goodwitch."

Winter blinked. "You mean to tell me that you were a completely _untrained_ civilian, and have heretofore _faked_ your way into success as a Huntsman?"

Jaune just scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, I mean, I wouldn't have stood a chance without Pyrrha, Weiss, and everyone else helping me along the way, but… yeah, that's kinda exactly what I did."

"Do you… that is… have you any notion how _extraordinarily stupid_ that is?!" Winter sputtered. "Not to mention you've made a mockery of the Academy system, the Huntsmen as a whole, and I'm positive that you've broken at least a half-dozen major laws pertaining to your identity…"

"And it's a good thing that he did," Weiss interjected, gently - and cautiously - placing a hand on her sister's shoulder. "If he hadn't done what he had, then he wouldn't have been in a position to unlock his Semblance at Haven. Without him and his Semblance, then I wouldn't be here today."

Saphron piped up. "What does it say about the Academy system itself that my baby brother, with less than a year of formal training, can go out and literally fake it till he makes it? Is he just that good, or are your training methods at those big fancy schools just that bad?"

"Jaune's always been a noodle," Ruby added, to Saphron's amusement. "But he's always been our loyal friend. During our entire time as Team RWBY, there was never any doubt that if we needed help, JNPR would be there, with Jaune leading the way."

Ren pushed himself off of the wall on which he had been leaning. "He was never the strongest in a straight-up fight with another Huntsman, but Jaune has always fought tooth and nail to improve himself. Moreover, there has never been any doubt in our mind that he has our best interests at heart."

"It's why he's our Fearless Leader," Nora joined in. "If nothing else, you've got to admire the sheer _nerts_ it took to start fighting Grimm as soon as his Aura was unlocked. People think _I'm_ crazy, but I've got nothing on our Jaune-Jaune."

"Have I told you just how proud I am of you?" Saphron asked her brother, clearly touched by the glowing terms in which his friends spoke of him.

"I think you re-broke one of my ribs hugging me," he snarked.

Winter's sigh brought all eyes back to her. "Even if I concede that he may have had the best of intentions in doing so, that does not change the fact that he broke the law, and his sister is now asking the same of us. Do you really think that you can just break laws at will without consequence?"

To her frustration, the assorted cadets just shrugged at each other, indicating that, _yes_, they did truly believe such a thing. "Do you mean to tell me that you've _all_ been breaking laws this entire time?"

Blake spoke up first. "I mean, there was the whole White Fang thing…"

"I once trashed a nightclub because the owner called me 'sweetheart.'"

"We were orphans and needed to eat."

"People think that I hold Nora back, when in truth, it's the other way around."

At that, all of his friends snapped their attention to Lie Ren.

"It's true," Nora sighed. "Without me around, he tends to stock up on sake and bullets and go on wild rampages. He once took out most of the Red Axe gang when I got the flu back at Beacon."

"Wait, _that's _where he went off to that one time?" Jaune asked.

"Those cheap suits light up real nice when you throw alcohol at them first," Ren answered, as his friends continued to stare at him as if truly seeing him for the first time.

After an awkward pause to process that, Winter then turned to her sister. "Sister, surely you've been able to avoid such felonious behavior."

Weiss coughed delicately. "During my flight from Atlas, I may have engaged in some… _incendiary _misadventures targeting Father's Dust storehouses. And a transport or two."

In almost desperate hope, Winter then looked to the two youngest of the cadets, Ruby Rose and Oscar Pine. Surely, these youthful, innocent souls would never have -

"You know, I think we _technically_ broke some rules about accepting Huntsmen contracts when Team RNJR was travelling through Anima," Ruby mused. "But we ended up helping a lot of people, so I think it evened out in the end.

"I kinda didn't actually pay for the train ride that took me to Mistral," Oscar admitted.

She looked over at Qrow, who didn't even bother trying to look guilty. "Hey, you knew what I was when you hooked up with me."

Winter just threw her arms up in despair. "_Children. _I don't know what sort of irresponsible role models you've had before - "

"Pretty much just you," Weiss muttered. Winter, in the interests of not smacking her sister for a second time that day, opted to ignore that comment and carry on.

"- But I really must stress how important it is to remain within the bounds of legal behavior. Thus far, you have all been extraordinarily lucky that those in power have either been disinclined to prosecute you for your actions or else too distracted to have noticed them. That state of affairs cannot continue indefinitely. Most of you are now legally adults, and can be held to account as such. For your own sakes, I really must insist that we proceed in a manner that will keep us, all of us, out of a prison cell."

"Didn't you straight-up kill that guy that threatened Weiss?" Yang pointed out.

"I had leave to do so as part of my mandate from General Ironwood," Winter retorted. "That was just an instance in which my duty as a soldier coincided with my role as a sister. As such, I will not come under legal scrutiny. _That's_ what I'm trying to get across to you all. We are all ultimately accountable, and you must learn to work within the systems in place, or else they will work against you."

"Ironwood isn't accountable," Saphron pointed out.

Winter frowned. "The General works for the good of the people of Atlas."

"Sure," Saphron shrugged. "But who does he _answer_ to?"

"...Atlas is governed by a ruling council," Winter slowly began, already knowing where this was going.

"On which the good general holds not one but _two_ seats," Saphron finished. "So in the instance of Atlesian law, it basically comes down to seeking Ironwood's favor. He's pretty much King in all but name at this point."

"The General has no interest in ruling," Winter argued.

"He sure issues a lot of edicts for someone who doesn't want to rule," riposted Saphron. "The point is, there aren't a whole lot of legal avenues to getting you and the kids into Atlas, because _he_ closed it off, and he isn't interested in talking. Not to us, anyway. We could try getting the Mayor of Argus to lodge a complaint with the Council, but they aren't listening to her anymore than the rest of us. But if you're with the kids, suddenly it goes from random cadets hijacking a military vehicle to a trusted Specialist…. Hey, what's that word when someone important steals something but it doesn't count as stealing?"

"Commandeering," Weiss answered helpfully.

"Thank you. Point is, there's a world of difference between _hijacking_ and _commandeering_, and you're the only one that can make that difference. Your involvement can keep the kids out of a cell, and really, it's the only feasible way to get to Atlas. Unless you were planning on trying to hike across Solitas on foot?" Saphron finished with a raised eyebrow.

Winter glared at Saphron.

Saphron stared back.

Winter held her gaze.

Winter let out a sigh of defeat.

Saphron smiled. "Well now," she said brightly, clapping her hands together. "Let's get ready for a heist!"

"Why wouldn't that mean old commander lady just let Winter in?" Nora wondered.

"Ol' Cordovin's got a real ego problem," the old woman, Maria, piped in. "She's insecure about her position, her abilities, and her age, and so tends to lord her authority over others. When this gal here showed up, well, she got nervous, but also saw an opportunity. Between that and the rumors, I don't think she could have resisted?"

"What rumors?" Winter asked, frowning.

"Ah. Well, to hear tell from some of the off-duty Atlas soldiers, they say that you and old Ironwood have more than your typical mentor-student relationship."

Winter groaned in exasperation. Those rumors had been flying far and fast since her first days out of the Atlas Academy. Winter wasn't blind to the implications of her family name, and given her physical beauty, it came as no surprise that others would come to salubrious conclusions about the nature of her relationship with Ironwood. Truthfully, there had been times, at the beginning of her service, when she had wondered if her name had paved the way for her career. As she had come to know Ironwood as a person, though, she had come to realize that he valued personal loyalty above all else in his subordinates.

As for the perceived romantic entanglement? Well, Winter had been one of the very few subordinates close enough to Ironwood to share a drink with the man as he went on and on about the many laudable qualities of one Glynda Goodwitch. Maybe, just maybe, Winter may have wished that a man would sing her praises with the unrestricted sincerity with which a slightly inebriated James Ironwood had spoken of the famously stern teacher, but she had never felt any sort of desire for that man to be her surrogate father figure. She was also sure that Ironwood felt the same way towards her.

"People have been spreading lies about me for as long as I've been a soldier," Winter said. "It comes with being young, female, and physically above average."

"Above average' she says," Saphron snickered. Terra elbowed her wife in the rib.

Qrow scratched at the stubble on his jaw. "Do you think it's possible these rumors are kicking up again because of your old man? He could be looking to stir up trouble."

"If that's the extent of his reach against me, then he must have fallen far indeed," Winter shrugged. "Still, I suppose it is possible. So, do you think this Cordovin believes these rumors and is… what, jealous of me?" she asked Maria.

"Fits with the pattern I've seen," the old woman answered.

"This is easily the most outrageously stupid situation in which I have ever been entangled," Winter groaned.

"So… revenge?" Saphron began, her smile widening.

[/]

A few hours later, the group adjourned, to get some rest and prepare dinner. As Jaune made to follow his sister into the kitchen, Weiss tugged on his sleeve.

"Hmm?"

Weiss popped onto her toes and kissed him on his cheek. "Smooch tax," she explained. "Now go on."

Jaune retaliated by planting a quick smooch of his own on her forehead. "Payback smooch," he smirked, before dancing out of her reach, stepping away with a jaunty salute and a smile. Weiss watched him join his sister, but her own smile dropped as she heard her Winter clear her throat behind her.

"Weiss, we need to talk."

With a nod and a pensive, reflexive gulp, Weiss followed her sister upstairs and into a small bedroom. Winter strode over to the sole window in the room and gazed out over the snowy streets of Argus. Weiss remained at the door as the silence stretched, bringing an increasingly unbearable weight upon the pair.

Just when Weiss could take the oppressive silence no more and opened her mouth to speak, Winter spoke first.

"Sister, I feel I must apologize for what happened this morning."

Weiss blinked. Why was _Winter_ apologizing? "No, I should apologize. I was having fun poking you, and I never stopped to consider your feelings."

"Irrespective of that, I should not have struck you."

"Winter, sisters hit each other all the time. Ruby and Yang -"

"Are not like you and I, and you know it," interrupted Winter.

"You might be surprised by how much mothering Yang had to do for her own sister."

"Somehow I doubt that it is fully comparable, given the close age between them. They were able to switch into something more closely approximating a typical sisterly relationship, and I fear that that may prove more difficult for us."

Weiss looked to the floor for a moment. When she looked back up, Winter had turned to face her, her expression clearly betraying both emotional turmoil and her effort to try and hide it from view. Of their own volition, Weiss's feet carried her towards her sister, and she hurled herself into Winter's arms without a second's hesitation.

Winter's heart caught in her throat as she caught Weiss in her arms. Somewhere along the line, her sister had learned to love fully, even recklessly, with as much gleeful abandon as she had just shown to her. Winter wondered if she would ever be able to love the way Weiss had learned to. The only way to find out would be to start with the truth.

"Weiss… I have always been so very proud of you. And afraid for you. And… I've never wondered what it would be like to have children of my own, because there's always been you. I just… I would claim you in an instant. Your triumphs are my own. Your setbacks are mine as well. When I see how happy and strong you've become, I feel such _fierce_ joy, and it… It's such a selfish thing. To see you bold and proud, and think 'that's my girl.'"

Weiss said nothing as she continued to cling to her sister, so Winter continued. "So today… I lost my temper. Completely and utterly, and repeatedly, for that matter. I struck you out of anger and irritation. Weiss, it made me feel _sick_ to realize what I'd done. I hit you to silence you, just as our father would have done."

Now Weiss _did_ speak up. "You're not like him," she said. "He never cared. Not for you, not for me, not for our mother. For him, contempt was his natural state. With you, I pushed and provoked. I just… I always saw you as this constant figure, and it never occurred to me that your patience with me _could_ run out. I took you for granted, like I always have done, and I'm sorry." She tightened her grip on Winter. "And if it makes you feel better, when the others talk about their mothers, the only way I can really relate is through my relationship with you. I don't know where that puts us, but I'm willing to work with you to figure it out."

With that, they separated. "I'll… work on getting my temper under better control," Winter stated, with the awkwardness seeping in once more.

"Yang might be able to help with that. She used to be a literal hothead. And I'll make sure to keep in mind that you're a person with your own faults and limits."

"Forgive me?" both sisters asked at the same time, which caused the tension to break. Weiss giggled behind her hand as Winter just rolled her eyes.

"By the way, don't let that boyfriend of yours lay a hand on you. If he does and I find out, I'll physically punt him from here to Vacuo," warned Winter.

"I might ask him to try, but I don't think he'd be comfortable getting that rough with me," Weiss said before realizing just what she'd said and worse, _who_ she'd said it to, covering her mouth in mortified shock.

The awkward silence came roaring back in full force as Winter did her level best to bleach her brain through the force of sheer willpower.

"...Thanks for the sex ed lessons?" Weiss offered hesitantly.

"I've done something," Winter decided. "I've done something positively horrible that has somehow slipped my mind, something that justifies the unspeakable horror that the Brothers have opted to punish me with…" her eyes widened as her words sparked a realization within her.

Weiss tilted her head in curiosity at the sudden change in demeanor that had taken over her sister. "Winter? What is it?"

"We need to gather once more. Just the Huntsmen crew, none of the civilians. There is something truly important that you and Jaune need to know before we continue, something the rest of us discovered while you were lost in the mountains."

"Really? What could that be?"

"Would you believe 'everything?'"

[/]

"Heh. That one girl called you a noodle."

Jaune paused in his task of chopping up green onions to look up and stick out his tongue in Saphron's general direction. "I'm not a noodle," he whined.

"Well, it beats 'Vomit Boy.'" Saphron carried on. "Seriously, how many times did you hurl around your friends for _that_ to become a thing."

"It was just the one time!" he protested. "Though… they do still think it was motion sickness."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Motion sickness? Really?"

"Well, you know, couldn't exactly greet new people with 'Hello, my name is Jaune, and I'm so incredibly nervous about faking my way in here that I'mma just go puke on your shoes now. Tends to be a real deal breaker."

On the other side of the kitchen, the blonde woman paused. "Jaune, about what that woman said today… do you think I'm a bad sister?"

"What?!" Jaune nearly dropped the knife in shock. "No way! You're the best!"

"Still… you could have got in trouble. Big trouble, and it would have been all my fault."

"Hey, you remember what you told me, right? The biggest rewards come with the biggest risks. Yeah, I could've gone to jail, or been trampled to death by the Grimm, or launched across time and space by Miss Goodwitch - " he shivered as he remembered the particularly exasperated expression on his teacher's face during Combat Class. "But if you hadn't helped me, I never would have met Weiss or Pyrrha or any of my friends. I would've been a completely different person. A much lesser person."

Saphron frowned. "Still, you should think about what she said. And it's dangerous out there too. Are you… are you sure you're going to be okay? Whatever took out Beacon has Ironwood spooked, and knowing you, you're running headlong at it."

Jaune shook his head. "I'm not gonna lie… it is dangerous. But it's also important. And crazy. Maybe one day, I'll be able to tell you all about it. Even so… we lost Pyrrha. And I almost… I almost lost Weiss too. As dangerous as this mission is, I'd never forgive myself if something happened and I wasn't there. But if we work together, we can make a real difference. For everyone."

She gave her brother a sad little smile. "I feel safer already, Huntsman," she said. She turned back to the counter and picked up the tray of fish fillets that she had prepared, sliding them into the oven to bake. "Well, I'm sure Mom and Dad will be very proud too. By the way, they'll be here tomorrow."

"_What?!_"

"Oh," Saphron noted as she stood up and set the timer on the fish. "Probably should have led with that. Yeah, turns out Dad can move _real_ fast when he calls some favors in."

Jaune gulped audibly. "Did you… did you tell them about Weiss?"

"What, and deprive you of the glorious joy of breaking the news to Mom that her one and only baby boy is getting married? What sort of sister do you take me for?"

"Whelp, I'm dead," Jaune moaned. "Wait. You _do_ know that we're going to be, you know, casing the base and prepping for the heist tomorrow, right?"

Saphron snorted in derision. "Oh, please, I've been plotting rings around Dad my whole life, it'll be fine. You just think of how you're going to convince Mom not to murder you, Noodle Man."

Jaune just groaned once more. "I'm not a noodle."

"Of course you're a noodle!"

The siblings turned to see Ruby Rose at the entrance of the kitchen. She had her most brilliant, innocent smile on her face, and Jaune didn't buy it for a second.

"Mrs. Arrrrc?" she began, her tone even higher and more youthful than normal. "I was just wondering if-"

"No cookies before dinner," Jaune interjected, well aware of her ploy. Ruby pulled a face.

"You don't know that that was what I was gonna ask for!"

Jaune just folded his arms across his chest and squinted at her.

"Well… it could have been something else!" she argued.

Her friend and former partner in Team RNJR just continued to stare incredulously at her, so Ruby opted to turn her megawatt smile and huge shining eyes on his sister. "I mean… maybe just _one_ cookie wouldn't be so bad?"

Saphron just grunted, opened up a cabinet and literally tossed a chocolate chip cookie at Ruby as if she were a dog with a biscuit. "Here, take it, just quit being adorable at me!"

"Yay! Thank you, Jaune's sister!" Ruby clutched her prize to her chest and dashed out of the room.

"You caved," Jaune teased his sister.

"Ugh, I know! It's a good thing you and your friends aren't staying longer, or I'd end up adopting all of them. They're all just so damn _cute!_"

"What's this about adopting?" As if summoned by magical forces, Terra practically materialized in the kitchen, balancing baby Adrian on her hip. Saphron slumped and tossed her head back in exasperation.

"Ugh, Terra, babe, we've been over this. No even thinking about new kids for at least another year, okay? I was just talking about Jaune's little friends, and how Mom's gonna snatch them all up for her own."

Jaune snickered as he peeled carrots into the large bowl of salad he was making. "Yeah, that's a total lie. She was feeling more maternal again. Confessed and everything. Once we're gone, you should strike while the iron's still hot."

His sister pointed an accusing finger at him. "You're a bad person, and should feel bad."

"Yeah well, I had your example to look to."

"But seriously, it wouldn't be so bad," Terra began, as Saphron just banged her head lightly against the refrigerator. "We could at least fill out the preliminary paperwork so that we're ready in case there's a situation where some poor child needs a family and it just clicks, so then little Adrian will have a brother and sister!"

"Don't you mean _or_ sister?" Saphron asked.

"I know what I said."

Jaune just smiled as he listened to his sister and her baby-fevered wife. It was all so refreshingly _normal_, no magical curses or relics of ancient gods, just the family concerns of a young couple deciding on how many kids to have. If he fought hard, fought smart, and got a little luck along the way, that could be him and Weiss one day. He wondered if he would be the one pressing for more kids, or the one saying that they'd had enough. He supposed it depended on how many children, exactly, Weiss would want to adopt.

Of course, jumping right into parenthood wouldn't be a wise move. As it was, when all of this was over - assuming they were still alive - and he and Weiss settled down somewhere permanently, he was totally going to take her to rescue a dog. He grinned to himself as he imagined how she'd react to that notion. Just one more reason to keep himself and his friends alive.

Speaking of his fiancee, he felt slender little Weiss arms wrap around his torso. She clutched tightly to him from behind.

"Hi."

"Hey, Weiss. Things okay with your sister?"

"Fair enough, I suppose. She has something she needs to tell us, Huntsmen only. I told her we would meet up after dinner."

"Huh. Well, I'm sure it's nothing too major." He moved to bring the bowl of salad and a plate of dinner rolls over to the dining room table, but Weiss still clung on to his back. "Are you gonna let go or what?"

"Hmm…" Weiss pretended to think it over. "I choose 'what.'" She held onto him, feet dangling off the floor as he started clunking along the way.

"Hey, whatcha got there, Jaune?" Saphron called after him, clearly amused.

"Oh, that's just my Weisspack. Muscles were feeling stiff."

Weiss let go with an exaggerated gesture, her feet hitting the ground with a little clacking sound. "Yang's a bad influence on you," she accused.

Jaune shrugged. "You're probably right. Oh, by the way, how would you like to meet my parents? They're going to be here tomorrow."

She froze. "Eh?"

"Yeah, took me by surprise too. Saph says they're on their way with a quickness. They, ah, they don't know about you yet, so I figured that if you needed some more time, I could cover for you."

Weiss chewed her bottom lip. "It wouldn't do to leave you to deal with your parents on your own. If nothing else, boldly presenting myself as your chosen wife-to-be might even earn some favor for courage."

He nodded. "Okay, fair enough. Just thought I'd give you the choice."

"Thank you. You're a good noodle."

"I'm not a noodle!"

[/]

Winter sat across from Qrow. He was too proud to ask, and she wasn't going to make him beg. Spare him a little dignity. Between them sat a glass, half-filled with water. Winter brought out a flask of her own, newly purchased and filled, then added wine to the water.

"Drink it," she said, holding the glass out to him.

A shaky hand took it from her grip. A moment later, a slightly steadier one set the empty glass back down.

[/]

After a lovely dinner - and Blake's high praise of the lemon-pepper salmon - the Huntsmen politely said their goodnights and the Arc-Cotta family went upstairs. Weiss and Jaune sat together on a couch, next to Ren and Nora, while the others stood or sat in a semicircle around them, with Oscar hanging back a few feet away.

"So," Weiss began. "What's this important talk that we need to have?"

After a series of meaningful glances, the group came to the consensus that Ruby should take the lead. "When you two were lost in the mountains… well, some things came to light. About Ozpin, about the Relics, and about… Salem."

Weiss and Jaune shared a look and sat up straighter. "What did you find out?"

Ruby fidgeted. "Ozpin had been… not as open as we would have liked."

"You don't say," Jaune muttered bitterly.

"First, he didn't tell us that the Relic of Truth that we retrieved can attract Grimm," Ruby continued. "After that, I… I used the Relic to ask what Ozpin was hiding. There was a magical blue lady in the lamp, and she showed us things."

Unnoticed by all in the room, Maria Calvera quietly sat up from where she had fallen asleep in a chair in a corner of the living room.

"Ozpin is old," explained Ruby. "Like, _real_ old. He was a knight named Ozma, and he rescued Salem, who was a human at the time. They had magic, like the sort of real magic that Ozpin gave to Uncle Qrow, only _waaaay_ more powerful. But as powerful as they were, they weren't immortal, so when Ozma died, Salem went to the Brothers - the actual gods, the Brothers - and demanded that they bring him back. Long story short, Salem took a dip in a pool that made her a Grimm, Ozma started his reincarnation mambo, and the Brothers kinda sorta killed everyone else. Like, all the people."

Silence reigned, broken only by the sip of water that Ruby took to moisten her throat. "So… the gods tried again, made more humans, and eventually Faunus too. But Salem and Ozma had children together, four daughters, inheriting a big chunk of Ozma's powers. They were the first Maidens. Ozma and Salem… fell out. They fought, and the girls were killed in the crossfire. But just like Ozma, they kept coming back, sort of, with their Aura binding to other young women throughout history. The gods had left, but they left the Relics. Ozma had been charged with uniting all the people of the world together, and bring the Relics together to summon them back. But if the gods come back and don't like what they see… they'll kill us all. Again."

"Here's the punchline," Qrow picked up after Ruby fell quiet. "All this time, and Ozpin never had a plan for how to beat Salem. He even asked the Relic lady too, asked her how he could do it, and she told him he can't. This shadow war of ours has been goin' on since long before I was born, and it'll be goin' on long after I'm dead and gone."

"Jaune?" Weiss looked over at her fiance, who was trembling in rage.

"Well?" Jaune shot to his feet, glaring down at Oscar. "You got anything to say for yourself?!"

"Since the confrontation in the mountains, Ozpin… hasn't been speaking." Oscar looked very small at Jaune's feet. "Not to me, not to anyone."

"Oh, and we're supposed to buy that?" Jaune stepped forward, making Oscar step back out of reflex. "He dragged Pyrrha into this with _no plan_ beyond the next delay. He used her, used all of us, just like the pawns he had us fetch in the Emerald Forest! I bet that was a real laugh, huh, telling us exactly what we are to you. He never gave a damn about Pyrrha, and now that we're in a position to call him on his lies, he's _hiding_?" He reached out and grabbed Oscar by the shirt, lifting him off the ground and pinning him against a wall.

"Jaune!" Weiss stood up as well, moving to pull him off of the smaller boy.

"How do we know there's even anything left of Oscar in there?!" Jaune ranted. "He was just another piece for Ozpin to use, like the rest of us!"

"_Jaune!_" He felt Weiss's small hands on his shoulders, straining to physically pull him off of Oscar. Jaune stopped, his jaw going slack as he took in just where he was and what he was doing. He was a trained, Aura-awakened Huntsman, using his size and strength to slam around someone younger, smaller, and weaker than himself.

In that moment, Jaune had become a bully.

Almost mechanically, the young knight released his grip on Oscar's shirt, letting the boy drop to the ground as he staggered backwards. The back of Jaune's knees hit the couch and he collapsed into it, overwhelmed by the weight of the revelations and the guilt and disgust at his own actions.

Weiss remained standing as Oscar straightened out his shirt. "These revelations are troubling, to say the least," she said, addressing her friends. "I… we will need to consider what they mean in terms of our mission. But be that as it may, that doesn't mean that Ozpin deserves to be abused."

"Are you forgetting that we had a deal?" Yang asked, her voice bitter. "We risk our lives on his crusade, he comes clean. He couldn't even tell us that the damn lamp attracts Grimm, let alone that our enemy can't be killed. He didn't tell us about the lamp until it was too late, and he was never going to tell us about any of the other stuff. He broke our deal. Why would you stand up for him?"

"Because he helped me when I needed it," Weiss answered. "He allowed me to enroll in Beacon as a girl, no questions asked. He helped me change how I see myself and my body, and he was unfailing in his declaration that I'm just as much a woman as any other. Without him, Jaune and I wouldn't be as close as were are today," she said, directing that last part to Jaune himself, who sat downcast on the couch. "I'm not saying that we don't have good cause to be upset, but that doesn't mean that we need to kick the man when he's down. And Oscar _certainly_ doesn't deserve it."

The group fell quiet for a moment before Winter spoke up. "Irrespective of Ozpin's status, that doesn't change the fact that we need to plan for how, exactly, we are to conduct this campaign against Salem."

"I always kinda figured that Ozpin wanted to use my silver eyes somehow," Ruby said. "But… I don't know how to get them to work. They just kind of… flash, whenever they feel like it. I asked Ozpin about it once, but he said he didn't know how to make them work either."

"Oh, I believe I can help with that as well," an aged, but warm voice called from a corner of the living room.

Slowly, with great disbelief and mounting horror, all eyes turned to the corner where Maria sat in a chair, covered with blankets.

Qrow blinked. "You've been here the whole time, haven't you?"

"How?!" Winter demanded, though whether she was asking Maria, Qrow, or herself, none could say. "How could I have missed someone sitting right there?"

"Have you considered that you lot just aren't very good at your jobs?" Maria jabbed.

It was with some degree of frustration that Winter realized that, after having made such a hullaballoo about lawful behavior earlier that day, murdering the old lady was out of the question. "Let the record show that today was not my finest hour," the soldier groaned out.

Still, if murder was out, she might as well follow up on a potential lead. "So, what did you mean, Calvera? How would you know about silver eyes?"

"Isn't obvious?" the old woman asked with wry humor. "I used to _have_ silver eyes."

"What… what happened to them?" Ruby asked, with evident trepidation in her tone.

And so the Grimm Reaper told her tale.

**[/]**

**Chapter Endnotes:**

**This chapter, together with the previous one, form Winter's Worst Day Ever. No, uh, no need to report **_**everything**_** to General Ironwood, right Winter?**

**I've always been intrigued by the way that Winter interacted with Weiss in "Brawl in the Family." She was stilted and awkward, and was quick to pop Weiss in the head for going on and on about the statistics of her education instead of the actual details of her life. I picked up on Weiss's comments about her "very difficult childhood" in Volume 1, and wondered if part of the reason for Winter's difficulty in interacting with her sister was due to an abusive upbringing.**

**On the other hand, no one else seemed to see that. It's entirely possible that I'm too sensitive to that sort of thing due to my unfortunate relationship with my older brother. Eh. I'm not a therapist. We've seen more of Winter now, and I reminded myself that a lot of the odd relationship that I had her have with Weiss was my own interpretation, not canon. It's still a little jarring sometimes, which I assume is due to my ego.**

**But yeah, been watching Volume 7, debating what to incorporate and what to leave on the wayside. Obviously, having shot Weiss's mom in the head and kicked off open warfare in the Schnee family, the Atlas plot is going to go differently.**

**The "Lie Ren goes on rampages when Nora isn't around" gag came from a short story that I wrote and then lost, called "The Wrath of Ren." It featured Ren racing in illegal motorcycle street circuits, dropkicking someone through a plate glass window, the aforementioned destruction of the entire Red Axe gang, and usage of the phrase "gimmee some sugar, baby." I'm unsure whether or not its loss is a bad thing or a good thing.**

**I also had a little fun with Saphron's character, setting up a split between a streetwise hustler who is also a wholesome and loving wife, mother, and sister. It tied in nicely to Jaune's… let's be polite and call it "lateral thinking." Boy breaks laws like crazy, and it somehow works out for him. While the situation in Volume 7 is complicated, Winter's little filibuster came about due to me acknowledging that the cast really does have a habit of running wild without any accountability. I actually blame Ozpin for a lot of that, as their experiences at Beacon really did teach them to bend, break, or outright ignore rules and authority figures.**

**With that being said, I figured that, in this continuity, Ozpin had done enough for Weiss to rate her sticking up for him, even just a bit. And while Jaune may have snapped against Oscar, he's too much of a good noodle to really hold it against him for too long.**

**Guess what time it is? It's time for another Anonymous Comment Theatre! This one I meant to highlight last update, but I forgot. Ever forget? Happened to me. At any rate, this comment, posted back in September 2nd, simply reads "normalizing pedophilia pog."**

**This baffled me. In fact, it baffled me for multiple reasons, a compound baffling, if you will. First of all, every character involved in the Horizontal Mambo in this story is of age. Oscar's antsy in the manner of a fourteen-year old boy who went from a farm in the middle of nowhere to being surrounded by a half dozen gorgeous gals, but, spoiler alert, nothing's coming of that. So, not sure how I'm meant to be "normalizing pedophilia." The next baffling part of that comment is "pog." Pog. Well, unless the commenter was calling me a delicious blend of Passionfruit, Orange, and Guava juice, it's most likely that he was calling me a piece of garbage. Having accused me, in the first clause of the sentence, of abetting the worst of crimes against children, why would he then resort to the most bloodless of insults? And why then dilute it even further by turning to an acronym?**

**People can be weird sometimes. But, just like always, the majority of comments are reasonable, well-thought out, respectful and interested in the story, and I just love that. See you next time!**

**-Mahina**


	15. Author Update

AUTHOR UPDATE

No, I'm not cancelling "Falling Snow," so don't panic.

I had originally planned to release chapter 15 on Valentine's Day, but some events occurred over the last few days that have me emotionally unbalanced. I don't know how much to post here, but since I've overshared like crazy on this story, why break the trend now?

My boyfriend - well, _ex_-boyfriend now - tried to rape me.

Let's be very clear for anyone who may not get this first point: if you're having sex with someone, and your partner tells you to stop, and you continue anyway? _You_ _are committing a crime. _Even if your partner had previously consented, she can withdraw that consent - in this case, because I realized that the conditions were such that I would face pain and possible injury if he continued.

Internet culture likes to use the phrase "triggered" as a term for "arbitrarily offended," or even just "annoyed and petty," but it has real psychological connotations of an involuntary burst of powerful emotion, one that overrides conscious thought. I had endured sexual assault before, and it took a long time for me to reclaim ownership of my sexuality. So when he ignored my demands for him to stop and shoved my arms down, it set off just pure, utter, _violent_ panic.

Physically, I'm unharmed - well, I cracked a tooth biting the fuck out of him, but that can be treated - but emotionally, I'm profoundly shaken. I don't know what he had been thinking, but from where I'm standing, it looks like my physical and psychological well-being was less important to him than getting off. The conditions for that sort of sex need to be just right, and as it was, I'd had too much tension and not enough lubricant. Really, I just needed to take five to prepare to try again, but he wouldn't allow me that.

The thing about betrayal is that it comes from someone you trust.

_Trusted._

All that talk of receiving a man's lust, of opening up to your lover, all of it is predicated on the fundamental premise that your partner can be trusted. That it's safe to allow him _into_ your body and your heart. I don't know that enough men fully understand the significance of that sort of display of trust.

The reason that any of this has anything to do with "Falling Snow" is because, having my trust in someone that I had wanted to share myself with be utterly destroyed has also left me unable to even _think _of romance right now. I tried. Chapter 15 is about halfway done, but I just... couldn't. If I tried to force it out, the end result would be far too bitter, angry and hurt.

But I'm not cancelling this story.

I'm not cancelling it because I worked too damn hard asserting my agency over my body and my sexuality to let someone, _anyone_ try and take that from me. I'm the snarky, unapologetically sexual, perhaps a little too crass, openly transgender woman who, more than anything else, is in love with love itself. I write stories about people coming together, of finding the best in themselves and each other in their joining. Those are the sorts of stories that I like to write, and to share with people.

So I hope you'll bear with me as I try and reclaim that optimistic hope in love that holds this story together. I hope it won't take very long.

-Mahina


	16. Author Update 2 and Omakes!

**Author Update 2 & Omakes!**

**A/N: Thank you for everyone who has reached out to me, either in reviews or private messages, since the publication of my last author's update. I truly can't express how much it meant to me to have so many of you send your feelings of support and condolence, and to hear from you all how much you have enjoyed and appreciated my work. Even the anonymous randos that usually leave some of the comments that I poke fun of once in a while either held their tongues or actually sent their sympathy my way. There wasn't a single disparaging comment sent to me on "Falling Snow" after that update, not a one.**

**You guys are the best, you know.**

**This story came into being before I was with my ex, and it'll keep going now that he's out of my life. Weiss's relationships in this story aren't expressions of what I **_**have**_**, but are imagined instances of the healthy, fulfilling relationships that I **_**wish**_** that I had; a loving older sibling who guides and cares for me instead of abusing me, close friendships with all the zany chaos that ensues, and above all, a truly loving romance between a trans girl and a man who cherishes her, where the two of them together are more than the sum of their parts.**

**So, in that same hopeful, longing spirit with which I began "Falling Snow," I'm pleased to inform all of you that I have resumed writing it once more.**

**Now, with a story like this, for a readership like this, I tend to take a good bit of time plotting and writing things out to get it well and truly polished. So I'm afraid that the next chapter isn't finished yet. However, in recognition of Transgender Day of Visibility - and to give you lot some storytelling goodness - I've decided to include some omake scenes or short stories that I had saved and was planning to compile into a later release. Just to clarify, none of these are really canon to the story of "Falling Snow." I do hope you enjoy!**

**[/]**

**Omake: That Time of the Month**

**(Takes place in Mistral, after the fight at Haven)**

Nora Valkyrie was strong, spirited, and more than a little terrifying at the best of times. She was Jaune's teammate, Ren's lifelong best friend, and more recently, the latter's girlfriend. Nora Valkyrie also suffered truly agonizing, _debilitating_ menstrual cramps.

That was why the normally peppy young Huntress was currently a sweaty, ruinous mess laying curled into the fetal position in her bed, moaning softly as her insides did their level best to kill her. Ruby was trying to wipe the girl's sweaty brow with a cool, wet washcloth, but Nora was curled up too tightly for the younger girl to even reach.

Yang, meanwhile, was puzzled by what was missing from the scene. "Where's Ren?"

Nora answered with a sound not unlike a moose being beaten to death with a clawhammer.

"Yeah, the boys learned pretty quick to make themselves scarce," Ruby replied with a sheepish shrug. "What can you do?"

Her sister's eyes flashed red for a second. "Oh, I know exactly what I can do." With that, the bombshell blonde stomped out of the room and down the stairs. She found Weiss polishing her sword in the living room, the white-haired girl carefully inspecting the blade for signs of wear and making sure that the Dust mechanism was clear and functioning perfectly.

"Heya, Weissy," Yang chirped, keeping her voice artificially chipper. "Do you know where Jaune and Ren are?"

"Oh, they're in the courtyard," she answered absently as she spun the revolving chamber around experimentally.

"Awesome, thanks!" Yang dropped her smile as she turned around and marched, on full-warpath, out to the courtyard. She found her quarry sitting cross-legged in a semi-circle, along with the boy Oscar. The three boys were apparently deep in meditation, so Yang chose to do the polite and socially acceptable thing.

"HEY, BOYS!" she hollered, shouting at the top of her lungs. She derived only a little satisfaction in seeing the three boys jump in surprise. Jaune tripped trying to get his feet back under himself and ended up crashing onto poor Oscar, the two of them ending up in a heap on the ground.

Jaune rubbed his forehead angrily, a red bruise starting to form from where he'd headbutted the younger boy. "Yang, what the hell?!"

She grinned widely. "Yo, Mood Ring!" she called, making it clear that she was referring to Ren. "Your girl's laid up with cramps, so why is _my sister_ the only one taking care of her?"

Ren shrugged. "We decided long ago that it was best for everyone if I just stayed away."

"Yeah, nah, that's bullshit," she shook her head. "That might have worked when you were just _friends_, but now you're her _boyfriend_. Or did you think that upgrading your relationship status was just the fun stuff?"

"Uh…" Ren, completely off-balanced, looked to Jaune for some indication of what to do.

"And you!" Yang turned her attention to the blonde boy. "You have even _less_ excuse, Mister Seven Sisters! Besides, what do you think happens when we're all living together and our cycles start aligning? You think you're gonna have it easy with PMS'ing _Weiss_?!"

Jaune blanched magnificently. "Ren, we gotta go," he said suddenly, urgently. "We're gonna need chocolate, _lots_ of chocolate. And painkillers! Anti-bloating meds! Pads! Tampons! We gotta friggin' _go_, dude!"

With that, Jaune literally, physically snatched up his two fellow males, dragging them bodily out of the courtyard and into the street, presumably to stockpile the necessary reserves. Yang merely wiped her hands together, satisfied of her good work.

Then Blake cleared her throat from behind her. "Uh… Yang?"

"Yo."

The cat Faunus shifted uncomfortably. "You do remember that Weiss… well, I _really _don't think Weiss is going to to get a period the way the rest of us do."

Yang blinked. 'Huh. You're right. How did I forget that? Wait, how did _Jaune_ forget that, isn't he sleeping with her now?"

"I think you terrified him beyond rational thought," Blake said with a shrug.

Yang scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Well, I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

[/]

Weiss stared at Jaune and his offerings of menstrual medications, tampons, and chocolate.

"Are… are you stupid?"

Jaune blinked, honestly surprised. "Huh?"

Weiss picked up a box of bloating medication and threw it at him. "I don't get a period, idiot!"

The young blonde knight was driven from the room by a storm of hurled boxes thrown his way. "I'm sorry!" he wailed.

Weiss crossed her arms and huffed. "Take this to the other girls, and then go think about what you did. And how you're going to make it up to me."

"Aren't you going to throw the chocolates at me too?"

"The chocolate can stay."

Weiss gave a little hmmph as her new fiance literally fled from her, tampons and medications in arm. He truly was a dork. She supposed that she would forgive him, after he made a sufficient show of contrition for his thoughtlessness. If nothing else, though, it at least showed that he truly did think of her as a woman like any other.

She smiled. Jaune may be an idiot, but he would always be _her_ idiot.

**A/N:** You know, some trans women report experiencing period-like symptoms on a regular basis. Now, obviously, we aren't _menstruating_ \- contrary to rhetoric about transgender people, we are neither insane nor stupid - but it is possible that there is some kind of hormonal or even psychosomatic process going on. It's like a dry-firing a gun when, not only is there no round in the chamber, but there isn't even a magazine. The necessary parts aren't there, but the trigger is still getting pulled.

I know that, just recently, I experienced some kind of intense rush of hormonal, erm, arousal that had no reason behind it. I would have consulted with my endocrinologist, but all the doctors are currently in Defcon Oh Fuck, Everything's On Fire with the Coronavirus. The pseudoperiod phenomenon needs further study, but these symptoms tend not to be discussed very much, mainly due to the fear of derision that would come our way for trying to speak openly about it.

I have a friend who suffers cramps that are so bad that she's asked me to mercy-kill her before. I always feel guilty that I don't experience that sort of thing, especially since this particular friend of mine has been known to physically fight people that give me crap about being trans.

[/]

**Omake: The Yang Dialogues 2: The Return!**

Weiss lowered her Scroll to see the bright, smiling face of Yang Xiao Long staring back at her.

"So…" the blond began.

"No."

"What?"

"Nuh-uh. We're not doing this. I know what you're going to ask about, and I don't want to play along if you're just going to be inappropriate."

"I wasn't going to be inappropriate!"

Silence.

"I wasn't!"

Further silence.

Finally, Yang couldn't contain herself any longer. "You _do_ realize that this officially makes you the 'up-the-butt girl' of our friend group, right?"

The great thing about mastering her Semblance was that Weiss no longer needed to actually get up to smack Yang for being a dolt. She could simply have her Arma Gigas do it for her.

[/]

They rode in silence, Yang driving her beloved motorcycle with her friends, including Weiss's comatose fiancee, in a cart hitched to the back of it. It was a cold and lonely ride, made even worse by the feelings of hurt resentment that hung over the group. Ozpin's revelations, Qrow's act of staggering negligence, and watching their friend - ironically, the one friend who could have done something to help, had anyone else suffered injury - clinging silently to life all made everything unbearably tense.

Plus, the icy mountain wind blowing down her shirt was cold as hell. With her Aura, she wouldn't be injured, but that didn't mean that Yang enjoyed having her tits freeze off.

That gave her an idea. With a smirk, she turned her head, looking over he shoulder for a second at the group.

"Hey Weiss!"

Weiss looked up, weary.

"Is it worse to have cold tits or cold balls?"

"_What?!_"

"Well, I'm freezing my tits off up here, and I was wondering if it'd be worse to be freezing my balls off. The only one who could answer would be someone with both, so I thought I'd ask you."

"_Yang Xiao Long!"_ Weiss began squawking angrily in normal, Weiss-like fashion, as if nothing had ever happened, and that broke the heavy curtain of silence that had descended onto the group. Ruby was trying to console her partner, chastise her sister, and find the answer to the question herself, all at the same time.

Yang smiled.

[/]

Yang frowned as she entered the hospital room, where Jaune lay in a coma, Weiss holding his hand the entire time. It just seemed off to see Vomit Boy so still. Even more than that was seeing Weiss looking so tired and listless.

"Hey, Weiss."

"Hi, Yang."

"He's going to be okay."

"I know he is…" Weiss began, only to pause and cover her mouth to hide a wide yawn. "He's my good noodle."

"Yeah, he is," Yang said with a smile. "I'm sorry that I riled you up earlier, on the wagon."

"It's fine," Weiss said, sleepily. "I mean, it's not, it's _so_ not okay, but it's still okay."

"How did that make sense?" wondered Yang.

"I have mysteries," declared Weiss, her tone lofty.

"Speaking of mysteries -"

"No," Weiss interrupted. "I mean, there _is_ a right answer, but you'll never know."

"Seriously? Why not?"

"Because," Weiss said with a big sleepy smile. "It's a secret to everyone."

"Ugh, fine, keep your secrets," Yang gave up, tossing her arms in the air with mock exasperation.

"You and I do have something else to discuss," Weiss's expression abruptly turned sharp. "What's this about 'calling dibs' on my sister?"

"What can I say, she's hot."

"Really, Yang?"

"Oh yeah, really. Like, hot, older woman with the whole authority figure thing going on -"

"Ew, Yang!"

"And those _breasts _of hers!"

"Stop!"

Yang just shrugged. "What? All I'm saying is, I wouldn't mind if she stepped on me."

Weiss's expression could not have been flatter. "Your perversions are terrible, your insinuations have ruined my life, and my disappointment is immeasurable. Besides, Winter's straight."

"So are spaghetti noodles, until they get all hot and wet."

Weiss made a face. "I swear, Yang…"

"Oh, come on, it's fine!" Yang protested. "Besides, are you saying I don't have the sort of Big Dick Energy to catch a woman's eye?"

"That's.." Weiss trailed off as a thought occurred to her, and she peered at her friend curiously. "Yang, do you… do you wish you were a man?"

"What?!" Yang yelped. "Why would you say that?"

"Well, you do fixate a lot on what it would be like if you had different… parts," Weiss explained. "Then there was that time you asked Junior to call you 'Sir,' and the way you continually questioned me about what it was like to be transgender…"

"I'm not transgender!" Yang cried, nervous. "That's crazy talk!"

"I'm just saying, it's an awful lot like how I used to behave when I was younger, just in the opposite direction."

"_Is it?_" Yang was visibly sweating. "I'm not… I can't be a….I mean…."

Weiss put a gentle hand on Yang's shoulder. "It's okay to be unsure, or even to experiment to find out. Whatever happens, I'll be here for you."

Yang swallowed, hard. "I...uh...bye!"

She turned and strode from Jaune's hospital room, leaving her friend to resume her vigil at his bedside. Stupid Weiss, going and putting those ideas in her head. So what if she thought about what it would be like to have an awesome dong, who didn't? And she only wanted to be called 'sir' because it felt right, like it was strong and powerful in a way that 'ma'am' just didn't.

That didn't mean that she was transgender….did it?

Stupid Weiss.

As the hospital elevator doors closed, Yang saw a blurred reflection in the brushed stainless steel. With the distortion, it looked as if her jaw were a little more squared. She crossed her robotic arm over her chest, hiding the girls, and then used her real hand to gather up her hair neatly behind her. She almost looked like… well, like her father's son.

That didn't mean that she was transgender! But… maybe a haircut wouldn't be all that bad after all?

Stupid Weiss….

**A/N: **This little bit came about after a trans guy messaged me, saying how Yang's behavior in the first intermission reminded him of how he used to be when he was an egg. For those who don't know, "egg" is a slang term for a transgender person who doesn't realize that they're transgender yet, and who sometimes behave… oddly. Like, I used to put on an over-the-top display of masculine behavior just to make my dad and older brother happier with my behavior, which, in retrospect, was a ridiculous Gaston act. The event where a transgender person begins to realize and accept that they're transgender is called "egg cracking," which is why I once referred to this fic as "the story cracking more eggs than breakfast!"

Now, I want to be clear that one can be a tomboy and a lesbian and _not_ be a transgender man. Actually, it must be reiterated that sexual orientation is not the same thing as gender identity. (My dad once pulled a Quagmire and asked me to "just be gay.") Orientation is who you wanna be with. Gender identity is who you are. Even if I were completely asexual, I would still perceive myself, and wish to be perceived by others, as a woman. Same works in reverse for transgender dudes. It's also okay to wonder, experiment, and then decide that you're not transgender after all. Just to clear that up.

**[/]**

**Omake: Food Nicknames**

**(At Argus)**

"So, Jaune is a Good Noodle," Ruby explained to a bemused Saphron, as they munched on cookies together in the kitchen. "Because he is both a Noodle and a Good."

"I'm with you so far," the older woman replied, spurring the girl to go on.

"And Weiss, she's a Sugar Cookie, because she's super sweet and all crumbly."

"Crumbly?"

"Yep," Ruby continued, as if this made all the sense in the world. "Just crumbs, everywhere."

"So, what are everyone else?"

"Well, my sister Yang is the spiciest of meatballs," explained Ruby. "Blake is a Mysterious Sandwich."

"Why a sandwich?"

"Because, there are many layers. And sauces. Nora, of course, is the Flappiest of Flapjacks. Ren is…" Ruby paused to contemplate. "Would it be racist to call Ren a fortune cookie?"

Saphron quirked an eyebrow, puzzled. "Why would that be racist? I mean, he isn't a Faunus, is he?"

"I don't know," Ruby said, slowly turning her head to address you, the reader, directly. "I feel as though, despite it passing technical muster due to the differences between our world and some hypothetical other world, it would still be touching on a lot of culturally-coded signals that would raise red flags in a complex sociological and historical context that would be far more trouble than it would be worth for a quick gag."

"...Ruby, who are you talking to?"

"Oh, no one. So, that covers everyone!"

"What about your uncle? Or Weiss's sister? Or that small boy?"

"Pssh, you can't give them food nicknames. That'd just be silly."

"Ah, right. Of course. How foolish of me."

"It's okay, Jaune's Sister!"

"Well then, what about you?"

Yang came up from behind Ruby and snatched her up in a noogie. "Oh, everyone knows that Ruby is an absolute cinnamon roll," she explained to her fellow blonde.

"Nooo!" wailed Ruby, as she struggled against her sister's grasp.

She would find no sympathy from Saphron.

**A/N: **No one said that these omakes had to make sense. It's carefully stipulated in my contract. I was originally going to call Blake a Fish Taco, until it was pointed out that that could actually carry some lewd connotations to it that did not fit with the bizarre tone of this omake.

**[/]**

**Omake: Pool Party Blues**

**(Takes Place at Mistral, Before Fight)**

"Oh, come on, Weiss, why don't you want to go to the pool with us?" Ruby asked her partner. Weiss was careful to avoid Ruby's huge, silvery puppy-dog eyes, as those things carried literal mystical powers, to freeze Grimm and to make people do what Ruby wanted by guilt-tripping them. Ruby was dressed for the pool in a modest black and red one piece swimsuit with a big inflatable innertube around her waist.

"I already said no, Ruby," she explained.

"But Weeeeeisss!" whined Ruby. "It's so pretty outside today!"

The younger Huntress was correct, of course; it was a beautiful day in Mistral, where the weather hit the perfect late-summer sweet spot between being warm enough to be pleasant while cool enough so that the sun wouldn't be overbearing. That still didn't mean that Weiss was going to go to the pool with her friends.

"But Jaune's going? Look!"

Weiss did indeed look up, to see her boyfriend rocking up shirtless, wearing a pair of black swim trunks and carrying, ironically, a pool noodle. He was flanked to either side by Ren, in a similar state of undress, and Nora, whose bountiful… _assets_ looked poised to fall free from her green two-piece as she giddily hopped from foot to foot.

Ruby dashed over to the rest of Team RNJR. "Jaune, tell her!"

Jaune looked to where his girlfriend sat, her long legs folded underneath her. The white-haired girl looked abashed for a moment, before Jaune, mercifully, caught on. "Uh, guys, I think I'm going to stay here, with Weiss."

"What?!" Ruby practically exploded with outrage.

Weiss reached out to touch his arm as Jaune made to sit next to her. "Jaune, it's okay. You don't have to stay here on my account. Go have fun with our friends."

He flopped down heavily on the couch next to her. "Nah. If you're not up to going, than I'm not going either."

Ruby was near apoplectic. "How are we supposed to have a pool party without my besties?!" She turned as she saw Yang enter, her sister wearing a surprisingly restrained yellow one-piece. "Yang! It's a disaster!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"They're not going because Weiss refuses to go!"

Yang reared her head back in confusion. "What? Why wouldn't - " she caught eye contact with Weiss, and then, a dim bulb slowly brightened. "Uh, sis… maybe we should let her be."

"I don't get it!" Ruby pouted, as Ren and Nora shared similar glances of recognition. "Why wouldn't -"

"I don't want anyone to see me!" Weiss snapped, her face red. "Skintight, wet swimwear, they'll...everyone will see…" she buried her face in Jaune's arm, unwilling to continue any further.

That, of course, was when Winter and Qrow arrived, still dressed normally. "Weiss?" asked her big sister, seeing the girl clutching onto Jaune with her face smooshed into his arm, while her friends all milled around awkwardly. "What's wrong?"

"Swimming," Weiss mumbled, her voice muffled as it came from Jaune's bicep.

"Ah, I see," the Specialist said. "What if I told you that I could help?"

[/]

Weiss looked at herself critically in the mirror. She wore a dark blue one-piece swimsuit, swiped from Haven Academy's swim team supplies. While it wasn't a fancy swimsuit, it was decent enough, and Weiss filled it out nicely, with her long, long legs and high, small, perky breasts. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only way she had filled it out.

Try as she might - and she had tried mightily, only stopping when Jaune had refused to let her break out the duct tape - Weiss simply could not stay well-tucked in the swimsuit, and as a result, she bore a small bulge in the front between her legs.

Jaune insisted that it was fine, that she was beautiful and ravishing, that the bulge was so slight that hardly anyone would notice, and even that it was _attractive_ on her.

Her face burned as she considered the fact that Jaune apparently approved of _all_ of her body. She remembered the sex-education book that Winter had procured for her back at Beacon; what if Jaune _touched_ her… _places_?

She blushed as she forced herself to change her train of thought. The last thing that she needed was to grow aroused in a swimsuit. But… what if he _liked_ seeing her grow aroused, the evidence of her desire completely unsubtle and indisputable?

Maybe she needed a cold shower before going to the pool. She had upped her dosage of progesterone, and while it was already having effects - her breasts ached as they had resumed growing - they were also clearly having other effects. Or maybe she was just a randy teenager in love with her boyfriend. That was also within the realm of possibility.

Weiss took a deep breath, and then several, getting herself back under control. She could do this. It's just a pool party with her friends.

Jaune was waiting for her outside of the bathroom, and offered his arm for her to take. She kept in close, so that the bulge between her legs would be less readily visible as she joined her friends. None of them, not even Yang, gave her a second look beyond telling her to hurry up so they could get to the pool.

[/]

The pool was moderately busy on the lovely late-summer day. Still, Weiss felt nervous about losing the towel she'd wrapped around her waist and actually getting to the pool. Of course, what she hadn't counted on was the sheer number of her friends and family deciding to "help" by drawing as much attention away from her as possible.

First, Nora and Yang had drawn quite a bit of male attention, especially since Yang had opted to change into a more revealing two-piece as well. They were _bouncy_, those two. Then Ren had gone and drawn away some of the hotel staff by making a huge production out of examining the Ph level and chemical composition of the pool water. And finally, just as Weiss was ready to walk over to the pool benches where the group had made camp, her sister had met her and Jaune at the small building that led to the pool.

Winter wore a ridiculous, inflatable Great White Shark costume, with her legs erupting from either side of the tail, and her face peeking out from the open jaws of the shark. That the shark had great big googly eyes only made it better.

Weiss's jaw dropped. "...Winter?! What?"

The Atlas Specialist was entirely unphased by her getup, voguing as though she were about to walk down the catwalk at Mantle Fashion Week. Jaune grinned wide as he winked at Weiss. "Well, I can safely say that no one is going to be looking at you. Ready to go?"

Weiss felt a flush of pleasant warmth as her sister and her boyfriend walked her to the pool. "You're all the best," she said. "I just want you to know that."

"Who says I'm wearing this for _your_ sake?" Winter asked, amusement evident in her voice.

"Hey Weiss!" Ruby chirped from the bench. "Get your sunscreen on, and let's go!"

Weiss tried to keep herself under control as Jaune vigorously rubbed sunscreen onto her shoulders, legs, and arms. His hands were large and strong on her, and she had to think of the most unappealing things imaginable to keep her thoughts from lingering on what else those hands could do for her. Finally, she was ready to go.

She and Ruby ran to the pool and jumped in, followed a moment later by Jaune and the terrible Great White Shark that had devoured her sister. Winter even made threatening cello noises as she swam about, splashing her little sister and her friends.

Around the pool, the rest of the young Hunters realized that it was time to drop the act.

"Okay boys, bye!" Yang winked at the group of men that she and Nora had been flirting with as the shorter girl pulled her away with a "yoink!" The pair jumped into the pool.

Ren saw this and dropped the act. "Eh, you know what, water's fine. See ya!" He let out an uncharacteristically loud whoop as he dropped the water testing beakers at the feet of the bewildered management and cannonballed into the water.

Qrow, complete with Speedo, did a perfect dive from the board.

Oscar stood nervously at the side in his bright green trunks. "I...dunno if I'm invited…"

"Get in here, you big nerd!" Nora lunged out of the pool, grabbed his arm and literally dragged him into the water with them.

Qrow swam up to his nieces. "Hey have any of you seen Winter? She said she had a special getup, and I -"

"_There is no Winter, only the shark!" _Winter emerged from behind Qrow in all her fishy glory. He took one look at her and burst out laughing. He was laughing so uncontrollably that he damn near drowned after she dunked him under the surface.

Weiss smiled warmly as she looked around herself. She had her friends, her sister and her sputtering boyfriend, and her lovely Jaune with her all the way.

"I love you all," she said, beaming.

**A/N: **One day, I want to work up the nerve to go to the pool or the beach in a swimsuit while untucked. Just, you know, here I am, deal with it. And people are like "well, what will we tell the children?!" But you let these old, fat dudes with hairy backs wear Speedos in public, and no one's losing their minds over these Danny Devito looking geezers. While I'm no beauty queen, I think I'm reasonable to behold, and I don't think I should have to duct tape my genitals to my butthole, or go through extensive surgery to go to the pool. I mean, there are skirted swimsuits, sure, but those are never long enough. Maybe something like the Burkini, but being a brown woman in a burkini in my state would be its own brand of trouble.

Point is, it's just a small lump in the front of my bathing suit, you'll survive.

Also progesterone; helps grows nice boobies, also makes trans women get their libidos fired up.

**[/]**

**Entry Endnotes: This is it for this little omake thing. I just wanted to have some of the more light-hearted ones there, and nothing **_**too**_** lewd this time. I'm working hard on the next chapter. Thanks again to everyone for their love and support. It means more to me than I can possibly say.**

**Stay safe from the pandemic, as best you can. If I die, I also let some friends of mine know how this story is supposed to end, so one way or another, it'll have an ending. Be excellent to each other. I love you all!**

**-Mahina**


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